What are indicator
bacteria and what is their significance?
Microbial water quality is based on the presence and
concentration of indicator bacteria in water. Indicator
bacteria are found in human fecal material, which can pose a
major threat to our water quality. Indicator organisms such
as total coliforms, fecal coliforms, Enterococcus and
E. coli, may not necessarily cause disease, but are used
to indicate the presence of disease causing organisms, for
which testing is either difficult or unavailable.
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