Total Coliform Monitoring Frequency for Community Water Systems
Population served | Minimum number of samples per month |
25 to 1,0001 | 1 |
1,001 to 2,500 | 2 |
2,501 to 3,300 | 3 |
3,301 to 4,100 | 4 |
4,101 to 4,900 | 5 |
4,901 to 5,800 | 6 |
5,801 to 6,700 | 7 |
6,701 to 7,600 | 8 |
7,601 to 8,500 | 9 |
8,501 to 12,900 | 10 |
12,901 to 17,200 | 15 |
17,201 to 21,500 | 20 |
21,501 to 25,000 | 25 |
25,001 to 33,000 | 30 |
33,001 to 41,000 | 40 |
41,001 to 50,000 | 50 |
50,001 to 59,000 | 60 |
59,001 to 70,000 | 70 |
70,001 to 83,000 | 80 |
83,001 to 96,000 | 90 |
96,001 to 130,000 | 100 |
130,001 to 220,000 | 120 |
220,001 to 320,000 | 150 |
320,001 to 450,000 | 180 |
450,001 to 600,000 | 210 |
600,001 to 780,000 | 240 |
780,001 to 970,000 | 270 |
970,001 to 1,230,000 | 300 |
1,230,001 to 1,520,000 | 330 |
1,520,001 to 1,850,000 | 360 |
1,850,001 to 2,270,000 | 390 |
2,270,001 to 3,020,000 | 420 |
3,020,001 to 3,960,000 | 450 |
3,960,001 or more | 480 |
1 Includes public water systems which have at least 15 service connections, but serve fewer than 25 persons.
If a community water system serving 25 to 1,000 persons has no history of total coliform contamination in its current configuration and a sanitary survey conducted in the past five years shows that the system is supplied solely by a protected groundwater source and is free of sanitary defects, the State may reduce the monitoring frequency specified above, except that in no case may the State reduce the monitoring frequency to less than one sample per quarter. The State must approve the reduced monitoring frequency in writing.
Organism | Methodology12 | Citation1 |
Total Coliforms2 | Total Coliform Fermentation Technique3 4 5 | 9221A, B. |
Total Coliform Membrane Filter Technique6 | 9222A, B, C. | |
Presence-Absence (P-A) Coliform Test5 7 | 9221D. | |
ONPG-MUG Test8 | 9223. | |
Colisure Test.9 | ||
E*Colite ® Test.10 | ||
m-ColiBlue24 ® Test.11 | ||
Readycult ® Coliforms 100 Presence/Absence Test.13 | ||
Membrane Filter Technique using Chromocult ® Coliform Agar.14 | ||
Colitag ® Test.15 |
The procedures shall be done in accordance with the documents listed below. The incorporation by reference of the following documents listed in footnotes 1, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 and 15 was approved by the Director of the Federal Register in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51 . Copies of the documents may be obtained from the sources listed below. Information regarding obtaining these documents can be obtained from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 800-426-4791. Documents may be inspected at EPA's Drinking Water Docket, EPA West, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., EPA West, Room B102, Washington DC 20460 (Telephone: 202-566-2426); or at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For information on the availability of this material at NARA, call 202-741-6030, or go to: http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/code_of_federal_regulations/ibr_locations.html.
1Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 18th edition (1992), 19th edition (1995), or 20th edition (1998). American Public Health Association, 1015 Fifteenth Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005. The cited methods published in any of these three editions may be used. In addition, the following online versions may also be used: 9221 A, B, D-99, 9222 A, B, C-97, and 9223 B-97. Standard Methods Online are available at http://www.standardmethods.org. The year in which each method was approved by the Standard Methods Committee is designated by the last two digits in the method number. The methods listed are the only Online versions that may be used.
2 The time from sample collection to initiation of analysis may not exceed 30 hours. Systems are encouraged but not required to hold samples below 10 deg. C during transit.
3 Lactose broth, as commercially available, may be used in lieu of lauryl tryptose broth, if the system conducts at least 25 parallel tests between this medium and lauryl tryptose broth using the water normally tested, and this comparison demonstrates that the false-positive rate and false-negative rate for total coliform, using lactose broth, is less than 10 percent.
4 If inverted tubes are used to detect gas production, the media should cover these tubes at least one-half to two-thirds after the sample is added.
5 No requirement exists to run the completed phase on 10 percent of all total coliform-positive confirmed tubes.
6 MI agar also may be used. Preparation and use of MI agar is set forth in the article, "New medium for the simultaneous detection of total coliform and Escherichia coli in water" by Brenner, K.P., et. al., 1993, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 59:3534-3544. Also available from the Office of Water Resource Center (RC-4100T), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460, EPA/600/J-99/225. Verification of colonies is not required.
7 Six-times formulation strength may be used if the medium is filter-sterilized rather than autoclaved.
8 The ONPG-MUG Test is also known as the Autoanalysis Collect System.
9 A description of the Colisure Test, Feb 28, 1994, may be obtained from IDEXX Laboratories, Inc., One IDEXX Drive, Westbrook, Maine 04092. The Colisure Test may be read after an incubation time of 24 hours.
10 A description of the E*Colite ® Test, "Presence/Absence for Coliforms and E. Coli in Water," Dec 21, 1997, is available from Charm Sciences, Inc., 36 Franklin Street, Malden, MA 02148-4120.
11 A description of the m-ColiBlue24 ® Test, Aug 17, 1999, is available from the Hach Company, 100 Dayton Avenue, Ames, IA 50010.
12 EPA strongly recommends that laboratories evaluate the false-positive and negative rates for the method(s) they use for monitoring total coliforms. EPA also encourages laboratories to establish false-positive and false-negative rates within their own laboratory and sample matrix (drinking water or source water) with the intent that if the method they choose has an unacceptable false-positive or negative rate, another method can be used. The Agency suggests that laboratories perform these studies on a minimum of 5% of all total coliform-positive samples, except for those methods where verification/confirmation is already required, e.g., the M-Endo and LES Endo Membrane Filter Tests, Standard Total Coliform Fermentation Technique, and Presence-Absence Coliform Test. Methods for establishing false-positive and negative-rates may be based on lactose fermentation, the rapid test for [BETA]-galactosidase and cytochrome oxidase, multi-test identification systems, or equivalent confirmation tests. False-positive and false-negative information is often available in published studies and/or from the manufacturer(s).
13 The Readycult ® Coliforms 100 Presence/Absence Test is described in the document, "Readycult ® Coliforms 100 Presence/Absence Test for Detection and Identification of Coliform Bacteria and Escherichla coli in Finished Waters", November 2000, Version 1.0, available from EM Science (an affiliate of Merck KGgA, Darmstadt Germany), 480 S. Democrat Road, Gibbstown, NJ 08027-1297. Telephone number is (800) 222-0342, e-mail address is: adellenbusch@emscience.com.
14 Membrane Filter Technique using Chromocult ® Coliform Agar is described in the document, "Chromocult ® Coliform Agar Presence/Absence Membrane Filter Test Method for Detection and Identification of Coliform Bacteria and Escherichla coli in Finished Waters", November 2000, Version 1.0, available from EM Science (an affiliate of Merck KGgA, Darmstadt Germany), 480 S. Democrat Road, Gibbstown, NJ 08027-1297. Telephone number is (800) 222-0342, e-mail address is: adellenbusch@emscience.com.
15 Colitag ® product for the determination of the presence/absence of total coliforms and E. coli is described in "Colitag ® Product as a Test for Detection and Identification of Coliforms and E. coli Bacteria in Drinking Water and Source Water as Required in National Primary Drinking Water Regulations," August 2001, available from CPI International, Inc., 5580 Skylane Blvd., Santa Rosa, CA, 95403, telephone (800) 878-7654, Fax (707) 545-7901, Internet address http://www.cpiinternational.com.
40 C.F.R. §141.21
For FEDERAL REGISTER citations affecting § 141.21, see the List of CFR Sections Affected, which appears in the Finding Aids section of the printed volume and at www.govinfo.gov.