Faecal Contamination Essay

Faecal contamination of water is routinely detected by microbiological analysis. The approach that has been adopted is to analyses for indicator organisms that inhabit the gut in large numbers and are excreted in human faeces. The presence of these indicator organisms in water is evidence of faecal contamination and therefore, of a risk that pathogens are present. If indicator organisms are present in large numbers, the contamination is considered to be recent and/or severe. Total coliforms, fecal coliforms, and Escherichia coli are indicators of water quality. When other coliform organisms are found without presence of faecal coliforms and E. coli, other indicator organisms can be used to confirm the presence of faecal contamination. The two most common indicators are faecal streptococci and the sulphite-reducing Clostridium perfringens (Bartram and Pedley, 1996). …show more content…
and 1.0% were Vibrio cholera (Tista et al., 2007). Probably the most important pathogenic bacteria transmitted by the water route are Salmonella typhi, the organism causing typhoid fever, and Vibrio cholera, the organism causing cholera (Madigan et al., 1997).
Pathogens are a serious concern for managers of water resources, because excessive amounts of faecal bacteria in sewage and urban run-off have been known to indicate risk of pathogen-induced illnesses in humans (Fleisher et al., 1998). Also, several species of gram-negative bacteria present in municipal wastewater are