E. coli as an indicator of faecal contamination in the Australian context

Escherichia coli remains the preferred indicator of faecal contamination for water quality monitoring. However, the past decade has seen an enormous increase in our understanding of the species' ecological diversity and has lead to the realisation that there are E. coli strains whose presence in water have little or nothing do to with faecal contamination. Yet a precise understanding of the extent to which these essentially free-living E. coli contribute to coliform counts in Australia is lacking, as is any means of distinguishing these indigenous E. coli from those that are a result of vertebrate faecal inputs. Addressing these shortcomings will allow industry to better understand the real risks associated with increased coliform counts.