Bacterium Coli in ICED and Uniced Samples of Water

Abstract

Five duplicate samples of water were collected after the standard method and shipped by express at one-week intervals from each of twelve sources (Tahlequah City water, Bear Creek and certain wells and springs) located at Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Each sample from each source was duplicated in shipping, one of the duplicates being placed in an iced container and the other in an uniced container. The containers were of sheet iron and insulated with a 1-inch layer of cork. The containers were of a size about 10 by 10 by 12 inches, inside measurement. The samples were expressed from Tahlequah to Norman, Oklahoma, a distance of 200 miles. They were in transit from twenty to seventy-two hours. The ice in all the iced containers was melted on arrival at Norman, although in all instances, except one, the* temperature of the container which had been iced was lower than that of the uniced. Immediately upon arrival at destination all samples were examined quantitatively for numbers of Bacterium coli according to the method prescribed on page 104 in Standard Methods of Water Analysis, Sixth Edition (1925). The duplicates of each sample were also tested with Koser's sodium citrate medium as per page 112 of Standard Methods to determine whether the lactose-fermenting organisms were of intestinal or of vegetable origin.