Presently approved EPA methods for determining effectiveness of disinfection for wastewater treatment plant effluent utilizes “plate counts” which involve taking a sample of the wastewater and using it to inoculate a growth media and thereby cultivate viable bacteria for a period of time. The cultures are then subjected to microscopic examination and the number of “colony forming units” are determined and reported. Success or failure is determined by the quantity of bacteria grown on the plates.

The Writer here proposes that new technology entering the market that allows for almost immediate detection of viable bacteria, whether planktonic or sessile, be investigated as soon as possible. The continuing threat to our surface waters from contamination by potentially pathogenic bacteria demands urgency. Each spring we see sudden increases in fecal coliform in our coastal waters. Data is now being developed that shows, from early indications, that collection system piping undergoes major sloughing events during this period that would provide a means to produce such events. A first step towards controlling this problem is to detect viable sessile state bacteria exiting the treatment process that are otherwise undetected by present protocols and methodologies.