MICROBIAL ANALYSIS

Microbiological testing of waters can include production water, potable, bottled, effluent & environmental water.

Bacteriological water analysis is a method of analyzing water to estimate the numbers of bacteria present and, if needed, to find out what sort of bacteria they are. It represents one aspect of water quality.

It is a microbiological analytical procedure which uses samples of water and from these samples determines the concentration of bacteria. It is then possible to draw inferences about the suitability of the water for use from these concentrations.

E. coli bacteria along with other disease causing organisms are almost always present in water contaminated by fecal material. E. coli is the most common of the contaminating bacteria and the easiest to detect.

Currently the best method for testing drinking water is to test for E. coli and coliforms, and if we find E. coli in water samples, we can say with certainty that the water is contaminated and is not safe to drink. The method that we use to test for E. coli and coliform contamination of drinking water is the Colilert system by IDEXX.

For quantification of coliforms, E. coli, enterococci and Pseudomonas aeruginosa we use the IDEXX Quanti-Tray® and Quanti-Tray®/2000 methods based on the Standard Methods' Most Probable Number (MPN) model.

The main types of tests that we conduct on water samples:

1. E.coli
2. Coliforms
3. Faecal coliforms
4. Heterotrophic plate count
5. Enterococci
6. Faecal Streptococci
7. Campylobacter
8. Pseudomonas aeruginosa
9. Staphylococcus aureus
10. Salmonella