AWWA WQTC55046

This paper discusses the usefulness of the information gained from measuring total coliforms, and why it has been questioned, including recent changes in European Union water quality standards which downgrade total coliforms to a secondary indicator. The current direction of the World Health Organization and its focus on risk management systems rather than parametric values of water quality and the revised Australian Drinking Water Guidelines 2 are discussed. Melbourne Water underwent a 14-month study which involved the parallel testing of almost 8000 water samples using membrane filtration and Defined Substrate Technology to determine the impact of changing the coliform detection method on system compliance. Includes 15 references, tables, figure.