Abstract
Indicator bacteria of fecal pollution were enumerated and compared by various detection methods for influent and final effluent of a sewage treatment plant. Total coliforms were enumerated by four methods including most probable numbers, chromogenic enzyme substrate test, membrane filtration, and plate counts and were about $10^4$ for influent and $10^2{\sim}10^3\;CFU/ml$ for final effluent. Fecal coliforms ranged between $10^3$ and $10^4$ for influent and $10^2\;CFU/ml$ for effluent by chromogenic enzyme substrate test and membrane filtration. Fecal streptococci counts were 1-log less than fecal coliforms counts, $10^2{\sim}10^3$ for influent and $10^1\;CFU/ml$ for effluent. Total coliforms numbers by plate count both in influent and in effluent showed 1-log higher than by the other three methods. Statistical analysis revealed that numbers of total coliforms by plate count in final effluent had the highest average of correlation (r=0.778, p<0.01) compared with those by the other three methods. In addition, total coliforms numbers by plate count showed most significant correlation (r=0.835, p<0.01) with those by chromogenic test which is well-known as its highest recovery efficiency. These results suggest that the plate count would be the optimum detection method for total coliforms in wastewater treatment plants which are the only microbiological standard of final effluent from wastewater treatment plants in the Republic of Korea, considering economic aspects and difficulties in laboratories.
