Water Microbiology

The Microbiology Team provides technical assistance and conducts microbiological analysis in support of the Drinking Water, NPDES, Surface Water Quality Monitoring and Recreational Water Quality Monitoring programs. The Team also inspects and certifies principal New England state and tribal laboratories for compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act standards.

Water Microbiology analysis includes the following techniques:

• Membrane Filtration
• Defined Substrate
• Multiple Tube Fermentation/MPN
• Presence/Absence
• Pour Plate

Bacterial Indicator Organisms include:

• Total Coliform Bacteria
• Fecal Coliform Bacteria
• Escherichia coli
• Enterococcus
• Heterotrophic Bacteria

Ongoing Water Quality Monitoring Projects:

• Neponset River Watershed
• Mystic River Watershed
• Clean Charles 2005/ Charles River Watershed