introduction to waste water & drinking water microbiology

©2013 Waters Corporation 1

Introduction to

Waste Water & Drinking Water

Microbiology

©2013 Waters Corporation 2

Moderator: Rebecca Roemer

Market Manager

ERA – A Waters Company

Presenter: Mike Blades

Product Line Manager

Organics and Microbiology

ERA – A Waters Company

©2013 Waters Corporation 3

About ERA

©2013 Waters Corporation 4

Founded in 1977

Golden, Colorado

More than 7,000 laboratories

More than 80 countries

About ERA

©2013 Waters Corporation 5

About ERA

©2013 Waters Corporation 6

About ERA

©2013 Waters Corporation 7

Definitions

Proficiency Testing

Certified Reference Material

©2013 Waters Corporation 8

Mike Blades

Product Line Manager

Organics and Microbiology

ERA – A Waters Company

©2013 Waters Corporation 9

Agenda

Overview of Indicator Organisms

Overview of Regulations

NELAC PT’s

ERA Product Design

Evaluation of Data

Questions

©2013 Waters Corporation 10

Indicator Organisms

The need to determine the suitability of water for drinking & recreational purposes has been long recognized

Simple and reliable methods for the detection & enumeration of microorganisms is necessary

Pathogens themselves are difficult to detect

©2013 Waters Corporation 11

Indicator Organisms

Instead methods have been developed to look for indicator organisms that are frequently associated with these pathogens

Methods are designed to be easier to perform and can be

completed in short periods of time with little expertise in

microbiology

The basic premise: Indicators will be absent from pristine water,

but present if water has been contaminated with waste

Many commonly used Indicators are defined in operational terms

(media and incubation temperature) and are taxonomically

meaningless

©2013 Waters Corporation 12

Indicator Organism Coliforms/Fecal Streptococci

— Total Coliforms

— Fecal Coliforms

— Escherichia coli (E.coli)

— Fecal Streptococci/Enterococci

Regulations have been written specifically for detection of

these indicator organisms

©2013 Waters Corporation 13

Overview of Regulations

The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the cornerstone of surface water

quality protection in the United States

The statute employs a variety of regulatory & non-regulatory tools

to sharply reduce direct pollutant discharges into waterways,

finance municipal wastewater treatment facilities, & manage

polluted runoff

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)

— Established under Section 402 of the CWA

— As of 2006, Coliforms are now part of the DMR-QA program

nationally

©2013 Waters Corporation 14

Ambient Water Guidelines

— EPA approved test procedures for the following bacteria and

protozoa in ambient waters: Escherichia coli, Enterococci,

Cryptosporidium, & Giardia

BEACH Act

— Amends CWA to reduce the risk of

disease to users of the nation’s

recreational waters

Overview of Regulations

©2013 Waters Corporation 15

Overview of Regulations

Total Coliform Rule (TCR)

— All Public Water Systems

Surface Water Treatment Rule (SWTR)

— Systems using surface water or ground Water

— Heterotrophic Plate Count

Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water

Treatment Rule (LT2ESWTR)

— Higher risk systems

http://www.hylabs.co.il http://idexx.com

©2013 Waters Corporation 16

Ground Water Rule

— Establishes multiple barriers to protect against bacteria and

viruses in drinking water from ground water sources

— E. coli/Enterococci

www.millipore.com

Overview of Regulations

©2013 Waters Corporation 17

NELAC PTs

Currently there are only 5 samples defined by NELAC

— Defining information is located on FoPT tables

They are:

— Drinking Water Total/Fecal/E.Coli as Presence/Absence

— Drinking Water Heterotrophic Plate Count

— Drinking Water Total/Fecal/E.Coli as Quantitative

— Non-Potable Water Total/Fecal/E.Coli as Quantitative

— Non-Potable Water Enterococci as Quantitative

©2013 Waters Corporation 18

ERA Product Design

All PT Providers must provide a sample that temporarily stops

bacteria from “normal functions” until you are ready to do the test

Bacteria need a few conditions for normal function. Moisture,

nutrients, appropriate pH and temperature

The lyophilization process removes moisture from the cells, which

means:

— Stable over a large range of temperatures

— Can be shipped anywhere

— Convenience with no time constraints

— Easy hydration step, dissolves easily

CRM Samples are available over any time frame, and are available

after the study closes

CRM samples are derived from our PT samples, actually have

assigned values and acceptance intervals

©2013 Waters Corporation 19

Evaluation of Data

Depends on the type of analyses

— Qualitative vs. Quantitative

Qualitative

— Presence/Absence

Quantitative

— Enumeration of colony forming units

— NELAC evaluation criteria:

o WS HPC (mean ± 2 SD)

o WS Source Water (mean ± 2 SD)

o WP Microbes (mean ± 3 SD)

o WP Enterococci (mean ± 3 SD)

©2013 Waters Corporation 20

Contact ERA

800.372.0122

303.431.8454

6:00 am – 6:00 pm Mon-Thu (MT)

6:00 am – 5:00 pm Fri (MT)

info@eraqc.com

www.eraqc.com

www.facebook.com/eraqc

www.youtube.com/eraqc