This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Lewis, C M Articles by Mak, J L Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Lewis, C M Articles by Mak, J L Agricola Articles by Lewis, C M Articles by Mak, J L

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Appl Environ Microbiol. 1989 December; 55(12): 3091-3094

Comparison of membrane filtration and Autoanalysis Colilert presence-absence techniques for analysis of total coliforms and Escherichia coli in drinking water samples.

Glenmore Waterworks Laboratory, Engineering Department, City of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

ABSTRACT

Over a 4-month period, 950 samples of treated drinking water were analyzed for total coliforms (TC) and Escherichia coli by both membrane filtration (MF) and Autoanalysis Colilert presence-absence (AC) techniques. The two tests agreed 97% of the time on the basis of presumptive TC results and 98.5% of the time on the basis of verified TC results. Samples which produced disagreement between the two tests were most often TC positive by MF and TC negative by AC. E. coli was recovered four times: twice by MF only, and twice by AC only but without the diagnostic fluorescence reaction. In two samples, E. coli could not be isolated from fluorescence-positive AC tests. On the basis of these results, the AC test was implemented as the routine analytical procedure for TC but not for E. coli.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Pisciotta, J. M., Rath, D. F., Stanek, P. A., Flanery, D. M., Harwood, V. J. (2002). Marine Bacteria Cause False-Positive Results in the Colilert-18 Rapid Identification Test for Escherichia coli in Florida Waters. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68: 539-544 [Abstract] [Full Text]