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.
