Faecal coliform

Mains drinking water is not sterile. Water regulations state that it must contain less than one faecal coliform bacterium per 100 cm3 but concentrations of 103/cm3 of Pseudomonads, one of the main causative organism in industrial product spoilage, are quite common and can lead to infection. 

Vilanova X, Manero A, Cerda-Cuellar M et al (2002) The effect of a sewage treatment plant effluent on the faecal coliforms and enterococci populations of the reception river waters. J Appl Microbiol 92(2) 210-214... 

Acher, A. F. and Juven, B. I. (1977). Destruction of faecal coliforms in sewage water by dye-sensitized photooxidation. /. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 33,1019-1023. 

Pathogenic viruses, bacteria, protozoa and helminths may be present in raw municipal wastewater at the levels indicated in Table 11.3 and will survive in the environment for long periods. Pathogenic bacteria will be present in wastewater at much lower levels than that of the coliform group of bacteria, which are much easier to identify and enumerate (as total coliforms/100 ml). Escherichia coli are the most widely adopted indicator of faecal pollution and they can also be isolated and identified fairly simply, with their numbers usually being given in the form of faecal coliforms (FC)/100 ml of wastewater. 

Faecal coliforms (digested sludge) 4 x 10 viable cells/100 ml ... 

Patel et al (1994) employed a combined process of coagulation and MF to avoid a disinfection posttreatment. The coagulation step was used to eliminate phosphorus, arsenic, and viruses, to avoid fouling, decrease particle accumulation on the membrane surface, and improve backflush characteristics. MF pilot plant studies in constant permeate flux mode showed that turbidity, particles, and faecal coliforms could be removed, but TOC removal was unreliable. Crossflow MF showed no difference to dead-end filtration, and both methods were similar to or better than sand filtration. Results with coagulation and MF improved phosphorous and turbidity removal, but the process was not optimised. The treatment lead to a reduction of chlorine demand in the product water. 

JV Pinfold, NJ Horan, DD Mara. The faecal coliform fingertip count a potential method for evaluating the effectiveness of low cost water supply and sanitation initiatives. J Trop Med Hyg 91 67-70, 1988. 

The characteristic features of the coliforms are non-sporing, Gram-negative rods, which are bile tolerant and able to ferment lactose at 37 °C producing acid and gas within 48 hours. The term faecal coliform was used to describe coliforms capable of fermenting lactose to acid and gas within 24 hours at 44 °C. The term thermotolerant coliforms is now used more commonly in the UK, although the term faecal coliform is still widely used elsewhere. It should be pointed out that not all thermotolerant coliforms are faecal in origin. 

Auer, M.T. and Niehaus, S.L. (1993). Modeling faecal coliform bacteria-1. Field and laboratory determination of loss kinetics. Water Res. 27 693-701. 

Water pollutants can also include excessive amounts of heavy metals, radioactive isotopes, faecal coliform bacteria, phosphorus, nitrogen, sodium and other useful (even necessary) elements as well as certain pathogenic bacteria and viruses (Botkin and Keller, 1998). 

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