Species composition of enterococci in drinking water and detection methods
Intestinal enterococci are one of the two core microbiological parameters in the new drinking water legislation, used as indicators of faecal contamination. They must be detected in all analyses of drinking water. A total of 134 strains of enterococci (Enterococcus spp.) and 93 strains identified as background microflora, or as potentially false-positive strains, were examined from operational samples of treated (i.e. drinking) water.