Dalhousie University Compares Methods for Detecting Bacteria in Water
Evaluating Automated E. coli & Total Coliform Detection Systems for Real-time Monitoring of Microbial Water Quality
Researchers at Dalhousie University compared the Microbium MPN Analyser, Colilert-18, and TECTA B-16 against the ISO 9308-1 reference membrane filtration method. Among the alternative methods tested, the Microbium MPN Analyser showed the strongest linear relationship with membrane filtration at low E. coli concentrations (R² = 0.971). In lake-water samples, its results for both E. coli and total coliforms did not differ significantly from those obtained by membrane filtration. These findings support good comparability between the Microbium method and the reference approach under the conditions tested, highlighting its potential for faster and more automated monitoring of microbial water quality.
