Application of phage typing to the identification of sources of groundwater contamination

Phage typing of Escherichia coli populations was used as a "fingerprinting" tool to identify the source(s) of fecal coliform contamination of a drinking water well, PW-12. Group discriminate analysis was used to evaluate the data and determine the relative distance of population centroids from the centroid of the PW-12 population. The phage typing patterns were compared to serological results and correlations noted. Phage typing patterns were shown to be stable following 32-days incubation of E. coli isolates in garden soil, tap water and neutralized tertiary effluent, with and without the presence of autochthonous flora.