Full Description

Fecal pollution in some groundwater sources may beintermittent or low. Little data exist regarding thecomparative performance of a large variety of indicatortests to detect fecal contamination in groundwatersources tested multiple times, rather than just once or afew times, and on an equal-volume basis. The proposedUS Environmental Protection Agency Ground WaterRule specifies the use of either Escherichia coli, enterococci,or coliphage tests to detect contamination, but itis not clear if these are the best indicator tests to use.This study showed that detecting fecal pollution insome groundwater sources is easy, but in others it iseasier said than done. In addition to using groundwatervulnerability assessments and well sanitary surveys,water purveyors need to sample their groundwatersources often, over an extended period of time, and usethe most reliable monitoring tools available. Data fromthis study, although limited, show that fecal pollutionin a well with known contamination was detected mostoften by the total coliform bacteria indicator test, followedby the fecal coliform bacteria test, then the E.coli and enterococci tests. Further, if method issues canbe resolved, 1-L volumes should be tested rather thanthe currently specified 100-mL volumes. Includes 54 references.

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Edition: Vol. 95 - No. 10 Published: 10/01/2003 Number of Pages: 13File Size: 1 file , 390 KB