WDDWGB41

2010

Interpreting thePresenceof ColiformBacteriainDrinkingWater

Determiningthebacterialqualityofdrinkingwateristhesinglemostimportantwaterqualitytest. Why? Becauseoneglassofwatercontainingjustafewdiseaseorganismscancauseillness.When minimalexposurecreatesanimmediatehealthrisk,thatcontaminantisknownasan acute contaminant.BacterialcontaminantssuchasE.coliandfecalcoliformindrinkingwaterrepresent anacutehealthrisk.Incontrast,meaningfulhealthriskfrommostchemicalcontaminants,suchas arsenic,radon,orbenzene,requiresalongperiodofexposure.Consequently,thesecontaminants areconsideredchronic. Thetotalcoliformtestisthestartingpointfordeterminingthebiologicalqualityofdrinking water.Thistestisperformedfrequentlybecauseoftheacuteriskthatdiseasecausingorganisms posetotheusersofthatwatersupply.Thetestiseasytoperform andinexpensive. TotalColiform asanIndicator Thetotal coliform testisconsideredan indicator,sincethepresenceofbacteriainthisgroup indicatesthepossibility,butnotthecertainty,thatdiseaseorganismsmay alsobepresentinthe water.Whentotalcoliformsareabsentthereisaverylowprobabilityofdiseaseorganismsbeing presentinthewater.Theabilityofthetotalcoliformtesttoreliablypredictthebacterialsafetyof drinkingwaterrelativetothehundredsofpossiblediseasesiscriticalsinceitisimpossible,ina practicalsense,tofrequently checkforeverytypeofdiseasecausingorganism. ImportantexceptionstothisgeneralizationincludeprotozoasuchasGiardiaand Cryptosporidium,which canbepresentinwaterevenwhenthetotalcoliformtestshowsan absenceof organisms.Undersuchcircumstancesillnesscouldoccur.Nevertheless,thetotal coliformtestremainsthemostcommonlyusedstandardfordeterminingthebacterialqualityof drinkingwaterintheUSandtheworld. RiskAssociatedwithColiformTypes Thereareanumberof subsetswithinthecoliform group.Thepresenceofbacteriafromeach progressivelysmallersubsetheightenstheconcernthatdiseasecausingorganismsmay alsobe presentinthewater.Thesegroupsandtheirrelativeriskimplicationsarediscussedbelow.

TotalColiform.Theseorganismsareprolificinthesoil.Theirpresencedoesnotnecessarily imply contaminationfrom wastewaternorthepresenceofothersanitationbasedhealthrisks.The presenceoftotalcoliform byitself doesnotimplyanimminenthealthriskbutdoesindicatethe needforananalysisofallwatersystemfacilitiesandtheiroperationstodeterminehowthese organismsenteredthewatersystem.Publicnoticetowatersystemusersisrequiredsincea properlyconstructedandmaintainedwatersystemshouldnothavetotalcoliformpresent.When onlytotalcoliformarepresent,thewatersystemisallowed30daystogivepublicnoticeto customersthatthewaterhasviolatedadrinkingwaterstandard.Thislengthyperiodindicates regulatoryagencies perceptionofalowdegreeofimmediacytotherisk. FecalColiform.Thisisasubsetof thetotalcoliform group.Fecalcoliform bacteriagenerally originateintheintestinesofmammals.Theyhavearelativelyshortlifespancomparedtoother coliform bacteria.Theirpresencecouldberelatedtoimproperdisposalofsanitarywaste. Immediatepublicnoticeandaboilordertotheusers(within24hours)arerequiredduetothe higherlikelihoodofdiseaseorganismsalsobeingpresentinwater. Escherichiacoli(E.coli).Thisisaspecieswithinthefecalcoliformgroup.E.colioriginateonly intheintestinesofanimalsincludinghumans.Aswithotherfecalcoliform,theyhavearelatively shortlifespancomparedtononfecal coliform bacteria.Theirpresenceindicatesastrong likelihoodthathumanoranimalwastesareenteringthewatersystem.Immediatepublicnotice andaboilorder(within24hours)arerequiredduetoahigherlikelihoodofdiseaseorganisms alsobeingpresentinthewater. NonColiform Bacterial Results Themembranefiltertestproducesaresultfornoncoliform organisms. High noncoliformresults aregenerallyinterpretedintwoways: InvalidationoftheTotalColiformTest Whenthenumberofnoncoliformorganismsishigh,theirpresencemayinhibitthegrowthof organismsinthetotalcoliform group.When presentinnumbersover200colonyformingunits (CFUs)ina100millilitersample,noncoliformswillinvalidateatotalcoliformtest. NoncoliformasanIndicatorofInadequateFiltration Oneexpectstofindasmallnumberofnoncoliformorganismsinaproperlyconstructedwell. Thuswhennoncoliformsarenumerousingroundwatersamples,thereisconcernthatthewater inthewellisnotbeingadequatelyfiltered.Reasonsforalackofadequatefiltrationinclude:the wellisnotproperlyconstructed,orthesoil/rocklayeringisnotadequately filteringtherainfallor runoffthatispercolatingdownfromabovetothewell. CONFLICTINGCOLIFORMDATA Sometimesbacterialtestsfromthesamepublicwatersystem,underthesameconditions,arenot consistent. SamplesTakenatDifferentTimes Inaninadequatelyfiltered well,bacteriaare expectedtobepresent. Organismsthatgainaccesstoa

wellcanbethereonedayanddieoffbeforeasecondsampleistakenafewdaysoraweeklater. SamplesTakenattheSameTime Thisisasomewhatunlikelybutpossibleevent.Oneexplanationisthediversityofcoliformtest methods.Somebacterial testsuseafiltrationstepwhileothersdonot.Each testusesadifferent proprietarymediatoincubatetheorganisms.Sometimesthebacteriathemselvesarecounted whileinothercasesenzymebyproductsaremeasured.Somemethodswillbetterdetectcoliform speciesthathavebeenstressedbychlorineorotherharshenvironmentalconditionswhileothers willnot.Finally,fullyrepresentativesamplesarehardtoobtainsincebacteriaoftencongregate togetherinclumpsinpipesandinthesamplecontainer.Thus,incaseswheretherearefew organisms,theymaynotbeevenlydistributedinthewater. LaboratoryMethodsfor TotalColiformIdentification Allmethodsoftotalcoliformidentificationrequireculturingofthesampleinthepresenceofa specialfoodsource.Theculturingprocessrequiresapproximatelyonetotwodaysofculture growthbeforeinterpretingthebacterialdata.Therearethreelaboratoryproceduresthatcanbe usedfordeterminingthepresenceoftotalcoliforminawatersample: MultipleTubes.Thismethodwasdevelopedintheearly1900s.Itusesanumberof testtubes andmeasurestheamountofgasproductionduringtwodaysof incubation.Resultsarestatedin termsof mostprobablenumberoforganisms(MPN)per100millilitersofsample.Advantages includebeingthefirstreliablebacterialmethodfordrinkingwaterdisadvantagesinclude significantglasswareuseandrequiredlaboratorycleanup. MembraneFilter.Thismethodwasdevelopedinearly1950s.Itfiltersorganismsfromthewater ontoapapersurfaceandthenincubatestheinitialparentorganismstoproducevisiblecolonies.A minimumof22hoursincubationtimeisrequired.Resultantgrowthsarecountedbythelaboratory staff.Resultsareidentifiedascountsof CFUsper100milliliters.Theadvantageofthismethod isthatitismuchsimplerthantesttubesthedisadvantageisthatitcan'tbeusedonmuddywater. MMOChromogenicFluorogenicMethod.Thismethodwasdevelopedin thelate1980s.It consistsofculturingtheorganismsinthesamplebottle.Anincubationtimeof1828hoursis required.Ayellowcolorindicatesthepresenceoftotalcoliformandthepresenceofafluorescent conditionunderblacklightindicatesE.coli.Resultsarestatedasthepresenceorabsenceof coliformorganismsper100milliliters.Noncoliformorganismsarenotproduced. FORMOREINFORMATION PleasecontacttheDrinkingWaterandGroundwaterBureauandtheNewHampshireWaterWell Boardat(603)2712513ordwgbinfo@des.nh.gov orvisitourwebsiteat http://des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/dwgb/index.htm .Allofthebureausfactsheetsare onlineathttp://des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/pip/factsheets/dwgb/index.htm.
Note: Thisfactsheetisaccurateasof September 2010.Statutoryorregulatorychangesortheavailabilityofadditional informationafterthisdatemayrenderthisinformationinaccurateorincomplete.