@article {Chang:2002:1938-6478:309,
	author = "Chang, George W. and Hsieh, J. Julie",
	title = "A Comparison of the Colitag Method and the Standard Methods for the Detection of Fecal Coliforms and Escherichia coli in Urban Creeks",
	journal = "Proceedings of the Water Environment Federation",
	volume = "2002",
	number = "6",
	year = "2002",
	abstract = "Fecal contamination in urban wet weather runoff is a major water quality issue. The traditional indicator for fecal contamination has been the coliform count. Recently, methods have been introduced for <I>Escherichia coli</I>(<I>E. coli</I>), a more specific indicator of fecal contamination. One such method is Colitag&#8482; which detects both MUG-positive and MUG-negative <I>E. coli</I> in a single 24 hour test. Unlike other <I>E. coli</I> detecting methods, Colitag&#8482; is not subject to interference from <I>Aeromonas</I>, a ubiquitous aquatic bacterium. We designed a research project to evaluate the convenience and equivalence of the Colitag&#8482; method in a small multi-purpose laboratory. Our reference was the Standard Methods fecal coliform test, the technique currently approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. From September 2000 to March 2001, 9 wet weather samples and 13 dry weather samples were taken in duplicate from urban creeks in Berkeley, California. The water samples were analyzed by the Colitag&#8482; method in our lab and by the Standard Methods in a certified commercial laboratory. The Colitag&#8482; method was found to be as sensitive as the Standard Methods for detecting fecal coliforms; statistical analysis of parallel test results showed a strong linear correlation of 0.87 between the two methods, a relationship that held up well at both high and low fecal coliform counts. In addition, the Colitag&#8482; method gave rapid and specific enumeration of <I>E. coli</I> and takes only 24 hours compared to up to 96 hours for the Standard Methods. Saving three days means that monitoring agencies could respond faster to sudden increases in <I>E. coli</I> and could therefore take immediate corrective action to ensure public safety.",
	pages = "309-315",
	url = "http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/wef/wefproc/2002/00002002/00000006/art00021"
}