Monitoring Wastewater Effluent Using a Rapid, Automated Detection System for E. coli and Fecal Coliform Bacteria

The main microbial indicators used in wastewater monitoring are [i]Escherichia coli[/i] (EC) and Fecal Coliforms (FC) (Bitton, 1994). Levels of these fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) are used both to track performance in the wastewater treatment system (Naidoo & Olaniran, 2014) as well as to control human health risk associated with the wastewater treatment plant effluent (WHO 1989). While the limitations in these FIB to capture the risk of all fecal pathogens are recently being appreciated (Sauve et al., 2012; Montazeri et al., 2015), future monitoring requirements are likely to include these FIB along with additional indicators (Harwood et al., 2007). The TECTATM B16 system (TECTA-PDS, 2019) has been shown to provide results equivalent to other methods for recreational water, while being simpler and less costly to use (Bramburger et al., 2015; Schang et al., 2016; Roca et al., 2018). The faster sampling-to-result time could provide EC and FC detection that can be used to monitor and adapt wastewater treatment to optimize efficacy. In this work we report on characterizing the system for selective and specific quantitation of EC and FC in wastewater. A protocol was adapted from the US-EPA Alternate Test Protocol (US-EPA-ATP, 2019) document, including confirmation tests to determine specificity and sensitivity rates.