WRC Home > Outreach and Public Engagement > Drinking Water and Human Health > CMB
 Citizens Monitoring Bacteria
Methods and Test Kits
Our research is investigating the accuracy, reliability, volunteer preference, and cost of six different test kits for monitoring E. coli. In 2004, volunteers in Indiana and Iowa assessed five different test kits.
Click here to learn more about the five kits
From that initial research, we identified two kits that received high ratings from volunteers and produced accurate results when compared with certified lab analyses: 3M Petrifilm and Coliscan Easygel. In 2005, volunteers in Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin monitored streams using those two test kits and also sent split-samples to a certified laboratory for analysis. Following the protocols they learned during a half-day training session, volunteers’ test results correlated very well with results from the certified lab.
Click here to view the methods manual developed for this project
Click here to see project results and products
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