Question

Can I get a detailed answer on the following question. Bacterial indicatior to monitor faecal contamination in water. (a) bacterial indicator (b) rationale for using indicator organism

Answer 1

a). Indicator bacteria are the different types of bacteria that are expected to present in the contaminated water samples. These bacteria are not harmful to humans but indicate the presence of pathogenic bacteria. Thus, they are used as a measure of indicating contaminated water.

b). The microbial limit of human feces is approximately 100 billion/gram. They include different bacteria species, some of them can be pathogenic such as Campylobacter and Salmonella. Certain viruses, protozoa and parasites may also present in the feces. The commonly used indicator bacteria are, total coli forms or fecal coli forms.