Coliform Bacteria and Information for Water Wells (E. Coli)

Coliform Bacteria and E.coli Introduction

These are microbes that are usually found in the gastrointestinal tract of human beings. Coliform bacteria are very useful and are widely regarded as indicators of water quality especially in North America (United States of America and Canada). When coliform bacteria are found in samples of drinking water, it means that the water has been most likely contaminated by human feces.

Because of the fact that they do not need oxygen to drive their metabolic activities, they are referred to as facultative anaerobes. In otherwords, they are not obligative aerobes, they use oxygen when it is present but can do well in its absence as well. Coliform bacteria are shaped like rods and produce acid from the fermentation of sugars like lactose (thus earning them the name of lactose fermenters). In the coliform group of microbes, well-known examples include Escherichia coli, Enterobacter aerogenes, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Serratia sp. When tested in the laboratory especially using the very important Gram staining test, the coliform bacteria stain negative and are thus called Gram –ve microbes.

Escherichia coli, happens to be one of the most important in the group of coliform bacteria. E.coli belongs to the genus Escherichia and the family Enterobacteriaceae. The genus Escherichia was named after Theodor Escherich who was able to isolate the subspecies. E. coli can be found singly or in some cases, in pairs. They can also be motile (through the use of flagella) or non-motile. As mentioned earlier, E. coli is a Gram –ve and lactose-fermenting microorganisms and normally resides in the gastrointestinal tract of human beings and other warm-blooded animals. According to the World Health Organization, most strains of the E.coli are actually very harmless but some of strains like the enterohemorrhagic E. coli (also called EHEC) can be very dangerous, as some strains have been implicated in severe food-borne diseases.

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