It should be clarified that coliform bacteria do not refer to a single type of bacterium, but a group of bacteria sharing common characteristics. This is why coliform bacteria are monitored to indicate the bacterial content in water during the monitoring of wastewater, drinking water and other water bodies. This article focuses on how to eliminate coliform bacteria in drinking water.

Effective removal of coliform bacteria in drinking water is essential to prevent potential health hazards and adverse impacts. Coliform bacteria can be eliminated by chemical disinfection and boiling. Common chemical disinfection methods include chlorine dioxide disinfection and active oxygen disinfection. Take tap water as an example: water supply companies strictly treat and test tap water to ensure all indicators meet relevant standards before delivering it to every household.

As for the health risks posed by inadequately treated water, the harm caused by coliform bacteria in drinking water varies depending on the degree of fecal contamination.

There are numerous types of bacteria in water, so why is coliform bacteria selected as the core indicator? Natural water bodies contain a wide variety of microorganisms. It is complicated and inefficient to detect all microorganisms to assess the presence of pathogenic bacteria. Instead, detecting one single indicator can reflect the content of a whole group of bacteria with similar properties.

For instance, if drinking water is contaminated by feces, coliform bacteria can be easily detected in the water. In addition, coliform bacteria have similar resistance to disinfectants as other intestinal pathogens. Therefore, the elimination of coliform bacteria means other pathogenic bacteria have also been inactivated.

For pathogenic microorganisms with similar characteristics, the WECT-900 Online Coliform Analyzer can be adopted for real-time monitoring of coliform levels in water, so as to accurately assess the microbial contamination status of water quality.