1. Francisco J Fuster
804-10-2676
February 11, 2011
Water Sampling
This lab was designed to help us understand and determine good quality in water. Good
quality water can be defined as water that is close to it's pure form. However this is
close to impossible because of all the factors that affect this purity. Animal droppings,
soil erosion and the climate affect the quality of water. Good quality can be measured
by certain techniques like the measurement of pathogens in water. One way is to count
colonies on a heterotrophic petri dish. This can help us determine how healthy the water
source is. Another way is the multiple tube fermentation technique. 100 mL of water are
measured. Then add a tablet of colilert to the sample and segment the water on a
quanti-tray. The colilert reacts with total coliforms giving of a yellow color and it
fluorescences with the presence of E.coli.
What I learned:
I learned the importance of water sampling because water that is not close to its purest
state can be dangerous to our health. That is why data received must be quantified to
observe patterns in pathogenic growth in water to help with the monitoring in the
purification process.