Bath Loading Research Articles

Coliform Bacteria and Streptococci in Swimming Pool Water

CALVERT,1 in a brief review of the streptococcus test for water pollution, concludes: There remains much work to do in respect to method of procedure as well as evaluation of results. Recently the writers have had the opportunity to compare the streptococcus test with the coliform test in a college swimming pool. It is the object of this paper to report the results of that study. The streptococcus test as first applied to water pollution was designed to show the presence of fecal streptococci. This is particularly true of the test as used in England. The test has not been recommended in this country as a standard procedure. The coliform test is accepted as a more accurate measure of intestinal pollution. When the streptococcus test was first applied to bathing places many investigators assumed that the organisms found were of intestinal origin. Some technicians and sanitarians still assume that. However, the studies made by Mallmann 27 certainly would seem to indicate that this is not true. In one of his studies, Mallmann 8 found that the streptococcus index in bathing places fluctuated with the bathing load, while this was not always true in the case of the coliform index. Mallmann felt then that the streptococcus index was a better