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Most water testing is
governed by the CA-DHS. Specifically, the Environmental Laboratory
Accredidation Program sets guidelines and standards for testing.
Certified tests available for drinking,
recreational, or
wastewater
samples are listed on the appropriate page. Also available is
information on specific requirements put forth by ELAP.
Analysis of waters, focuses mainly on coliform bacteria. Coliform
bacteria are also referred to as “total coliforms”. The presence of
coliform bacteria is an indicator of pollution.
A subset of total coliforms is the fecal coliform bacteria. Fecal
coliforms are associated with the intestinal tract of warm blooded
animals. The fecal coliform bacteria named E. coli, is the primary
indicator organism of human waste.
Also studied, along with coliforms, are the Streptococcus spp. In
particular, the Enterococcus group of the Fecal Streptococcus
bacteria can be very useful in analyzing both recreational and
wastewaters.
Heterotrophic Plate Counts (HPC) are performed to determine the
total level of bacteria (all types) present in a water sample.
Please see our Links page for
access to related links.
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