Testing for Fecal Coliforms and E.coli in Wastewater

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Testing for Fecal Coliforms and E.coli

Presented by:

Kalina Warren

Summary of Presentation

• Background information

– Total coliform group

– Fecal coliform group

– Escherichia coli (E.coli)

– Other pathogenic bacteria

• Test methods

– Membrane filter technique

– Multiple-tube fermentation technique

– Enzyme substrate coliform test

• Colilert and Colilert - 18

• US Rules

• World-wide perspective

Total Coliform Group

• Consists of several genera of bacteria of fecal and non-fecal origin

• Definition based on the method of detection

– Ferment lactose with gas and acid formation within 48 h at 35 o C

– Produce dark red colony with a metallic sheen within 24 h on an Endo-type medium containing lactose

• Considered an indicator organism

– A criterion of the degree of pollution and thus of sanitary quality

• Belongs to the family of Enterobacteriaceae

• Facultative anaerobic (do not have to have oxygen)

• Gram-negative

• Non-spore forming

• Rod-shaped

• Includes four genera that have at least some species of fecal origin

• Posses the enzyme β-galactosidase (nickname beta-gal) that catalyzes the hydrolysis of β-galactosides into monosaccharides

Total coliform group, cont.

• Citrobacter

– Use citrate as a carbon source

– Found everywhere including in soil, water, wastewater, human intestine

– Rarely source off illness (except urinary tract & infant meningitis)

• Enterobacter

– Highly motile

– Part of normal flora of human intestinal tract

– Several strains can be pathogenic and cause urinary tract infection

• Escherichia

– Inhabitants of the gastrointestinal tracts of warm-blooded animals

– Provide a portion of the microbial–derived vitamin K

– E.coli – most numerous from this group

• Klebsiella

– Widely distributed in nature

– Occurring in soil, water, grain, vegetation, wood pulp, other…

– Opportunistic pathogens

– Can cause pneumonia, urinary tract infections, other infections

– Associated with coliform re-growth in large water distribution systems

– Klebsiella pneumoniae ( from feces) – 60 – 80 % shows as positive in FC tests

• Others

– Budvicia, Erwinia, Leclercia, Serratia

– Found only in the environment (no fecal origin)

Fecal coliform group

• Subset of total coliform

• Resides in the intestinal tract of warm-blooded animals (including humans)

• Outside of a host, FC are short-lived

• Contains pathogens (disease causing e.g., E.coli) and non-pathogenic bacteria

• Indicates fecal contamination and potential presence of pathogens

• Incubation temperature 44.5 ± 0.2

o C

Escherichia coli

• E.coli is a sub-group of fecal coliform group

• It is naturally found in the intestines of warm-blooded animals, such as cows, chicken, pigs, dogs, cats, birds, and people; comprise of up to 1% of bacterial biomass

• Enters the environment through feces.

• There are thousands of different strains of E. coli.

Fortunately very few strains are pathogenic.

– More than one strain of E.coli may coexist in the intestinal tract; they displace one another 3-4 times a year

– Pathogenic strains may cause one of three types of infection: urinary tract, neonatal meningitis, intestinal diseases

• Possess the enzyme β- glucuronidase and is capable of cleaving the fluorogenic substrate, MUG, with the corresponding release of the fluorogen.

Other pathogenic bacteria regulated by the wastewater program

– Salmonella

• Belongs to family of Enterobacteriaceae

• Usually does not ferment lactose, instead most produce hydrogen sulfide

• Causes typhoid fever and food-borne diseases

• Lives in the intestinal tract of humans and other animals including birds

• Present in small numbers compared to coliform

– Fecal Streptococci

• Found in gastrointestinal tract of warm-blooded animals

• Enterococci are a subgroup of FS

– Valuable indicator of fecal contamination of recreational waters

Testing Methods

Sample Collection

• Use appropriate sampling container (sterile) with

Na

2

S

2

O

3 to remove chlorine

• Type: Grab (not composite)

• Use gloves while sampling

• Sample should be representative of flow

• After collection place it on ice or in a refrigerator

• Deliver to a laboratory ASAP, but no later than

6 hours of collection

• Maintain records

Membrane Filter Technique

• Pour medium onto absorbent pad in petri dish

• Shake sample vigorously

• Measure appropriate volume

• Filter sample or sample aliquot through a membrane filter, diameter

47 mm, mean pore diameter 0.45 um

• Rinse funnel with approx. 30 mL of dilution water

• Place filter on a pad in petri dish with a selected medium

• Incubate inverted plate

• Count colonies

• Record results

• Perform confirmatory tests when needed

• Run appropriate blanks, known positive and known negative

Total coliform, SM 9222B

• Culture medium

– LES Endo agar

– M-Endo agar or broth

• Incubation

– 35 ± 0.5

o C

– 22 to 24 hours

• Produce dark, red colony with metallic sheen

• Many background colonies usually are observed

• At least three sample dilutions should be setup

• Up to 80 TC colonies can be counted if no more than

200 total colonies (including background) are noted

Fecal coliform, SM 9222D

• Most commonly used method

• Culture medium

– M-FC broth (96 h shelve life)

– M-FC agar (2 weeks shelve life)

• Incubation

– 44.5 ± 0.2

o C

– 24 ± 2 hours

• Count blue colonies; can be different size and shade

• Few background colonies usually are observed due to selectivity of medium, especially if rosalic acid is added

• At least three sample dilutions should be setup

• Up to 60 FC colonies can be counted

Confirmation procedures, SM

9020B. 9

• Verify positives monthly by picking at least 10 colonies from a plate

• To determine false negatives, pick atypical colonies

• For FC test use tubes with:

– Lauryl Tryptose Broth

(LTB) at 35 ± 0.5

o C

– EC broth at 44.5 ± 0.2

o C

• Adjust counts based on percent of verification

• Tips

– Each colony is confirmed in a separate tube

– LTB and EC tubes can be confirmed simultaneously

• Keep good records

Calculation of Coliform Density - MF

• If one dilution is used for calculation

Coliforms/100 mL = coliform colonies x 100 mL sample filtered

Example: 25x100/ 10 = 250 coliforms in 100 mL of sample

Calculation of Coliform Density – MF, cont.

• If more than one plate use to calculate density

• Coliforms/100 mL = (sum of colony count from plates x 100 sum of filtered volumes

Example: [( 15+6+0) x 100] / (50+25+10) = 25 coliforms in 100 mL

• Use the second formula only if no plate yield colony count in ideal range

Multiple Tube Fermentation

Technique

• In general, this method is much more time consumig

• Set up 5 tubes with appropriate presumptive media for each of three sample dilutions

– 5 x 10 mL

– 5 x 1 mL

– 5 x 0.1 mL

• Add a sterile water control

• Incubate

• Swirl each tube gently and examine growth

• Look for gas and acidic reaction

• Re-incubate for additional 24 h if no gas or acidic reaction is evident

• Using sterile 3-mm loop or wooden applicator transfer growth from a positive presumptive medium to a tube with confirmation medium

• Incubate

• Examine growth, look for gas

• Incubation in both culture mediums can be done simultaneously

• Calculate results using SM Table 9221.IV.

Multiple-Tube Fermentation Technique,

Total Coliform Procedure, SM 9221B

• Presumptive medium – LTB

• Incubation

– 35 ± 0.5

o C

– 24 ± 2 hours, examine and re-incubate negative tubes

• Use brilliant green lactose bile broth

(BGBB) for confirmed phase

• Incubation

– 35 ± 0.5

o C

– 24 ± 2 hours

• Use EC (for FC) or EC-MUG for E.coli

• Incubation

– 44.5 ± 0.2

o C

– 24 ± 2 hours

• Calculate results using SM Table 9221.IV.

Multiple-Tube Fermentation Technique,

Fecal Coliform Procedure, SM 9221E

• Mostly used for biosolids (EPA 1680 or 1681)

– Special sample preparation required

• Presumptive media – LTB

• Incubation

– 35 ± 0.5

o C

– 22 to 24 hours

• Inoculate EC broth tubes using positive LTB tubes

• Incubation

– 44.5 ± 0.2

o C

– 24 ± 2 hours

• Presumptive and confirmatory test can be run simultaneously

• One step method

– A-1 broth

• Incubation

– 3 hours at 35 ± 0.5

o C

– 21 ± 2 hours at 44.5 ± 0.2

o C

• Calculate results using SM Table 9221.IV.

Control Cultures for Microbiological

Tests

Group Positive Negative

Total Coliform

Fecal Coliform

Escherichia Coli

E.coli

E.aerogenes

E.coli

E.coli

Staphylococcus aureus

Pseudomonas sp.

Enterobacter aerogenes

Enterobacter aerogenes

Fecal Streptococci Enterococcus faecalis Staphylococcus aureus

Enterococci Streptococcus faecalis S.mitis/salivarius

Recently Approved Methods for

E.coli and Enterococci

• Federal Register Notice- August 16 th , 2005

– Comments on proposal ended on October 17 th , 2005

– Promulgated on March 26 th ,2007

– Effective date –April 25 th , 2007

– http://www.epa.gov/EPA-WATER/2007/March/Day-26/w1455.htm

• Multiple Tube Fermentation, SM 9221F

– The procedure is used as a confirmatory test after prior enrichment in a presumptive medium for TC

• Enzyme substrate coliform (multiple tube/multiple well)

– SM 9223.B

– Colilert ® , Colilert ® -18 ( IDEXX)

• E.coli, membrane filtration single step

– mColiBlue 24 (HACH)

• Membrane filtration, SM 9222G

– This method is preceded by SM 9222B for TC

• Testing for Enterococci

Enzyme Substrate Coliform by multiple tube / multiple well

ONPG Positive Reaction

Colilert & Colilert-18

Information provided by IDEXX

MUG Positive Reaction

Colilert & Colilert-18

Information provided by IDEXX

Quanti-Tray Demonstration

Add Colilert to sample and shake to dissolve

Pour mixture into a

Quanti-Tray

Information provided by IDEXX

Quanti-Tray Demonstration

cont.

Seal and then incubate at

35°C for 24 hours

Count positive wells and refer to MPN table

Information provided by IDEXX

E.coli

Positive Tray

Information provided by IDEXX

Quanti-Tray/2000 Scientific Basis

Information provided by IDEXX

States or regions approving E.coli and

Colilert for Waste Water Testing

• Indiana

• Oregon

• Regions of California

• Virginia

• Arizona

• Tennessee

• Utah

• Maryland

• Pennsylvania

• Kentucky

Information provided by IDEXX

New Member Filtration Methods for

E.coli

M-ColiBlue 24

• Enumerate TC and E.coli on one petri dish

• Read and confirm results in 24 hours

• E.coli colonies are blue

• Other coliforms are red

EPA Methods for E.coli

• Method 1603: Escherichia coli (E.coli) in Water by Membrane

Filtration Using Modified membrane-Thermotolerant Escherichia coli

Agar (Modified mTEC) (September 2002) - Method 1603 is a revised membrane filter (MF) procedure, a single-step method that uses one medium, modified mTEC Agar, and does not require the transfer of the membrane filter to another medium or other substrate

• Method 1604: Total Coliforms and Escherichia coli in Water by

Membrane Filtration Using a Simultaneous Detection Technique (MI

Medium) (September 2002) - This document (EPA 821-R-02-024) is identical to the February 2000 version of the MI Agar Method

(Membrane Filter Method for the Simultaneous Detection of Total

Coliforms and Escherichia coli in Drinking Water, EPA-600-R-00-13), with one exception, the addition of MI Broth. The MI Agar Method was approved for use in compliance monitoring of drinking water and source water in support of the National Primary and Secondary

Drinking Water Regulations (Federal Register, Vol. 64, No. 230, 1

December 1999, p.67450-67467) becoming effective 3 January

2000. On 6 November 2001, MI Broth was approved as a minor modification. This method, now designated as Method 1604, has been approved for use in monitoring ambient water.

Federal Regulations / List of

Approved Biological Methods

• Applicable to the NPDES facilities

– Check with your State environmental department for non-NPDES facilities

• Code of Federal Regulations

– Title 40 – Protection of Environment

– Chapter 1 – Environmental Protection Agency

– Subchapter D – Water Programs

– Part 136 – Guidelines Establishing Test Procedures for the Analysis of Pollutants

– 136.3 Identification of Test Procedures

– Table 1A Approved Biological Methods for Wastewater and Sewage Sludge

• http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov

World-wide Prospective

• The Council of European Communities and the World Health

Organization have replaced fecal coliforms to E.coli in standards and guidelines.

– Source: Domestic Wastewater Treatment In Developing Countries, Published in

2004, Written by Duncan Mara

• Scientific studies suggest that E.coli is the preferred indicator of fecal contamination. E.coli is approximately equivalent to 90% of the fecal coliforms.

– Source: A compendium of standards for wastewater reuse in the Eastern

Mediterranean Region, World Health Organization

Contact information

Kalina Warren

Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Central District

Wastewater Compliance/Enforcement Section

407-893-7875

Kalina.warren@dep.state.fl.us

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