The ability to determine the microbiological status of water is important not only for potable supplies, industrial waters and wastewater treatment, it also applies to the testing and monitoring of many different water sources, including those used for recreational purposes.

To meet all these needs, Lab M provides microbiological culture media for applications ranging from the estimation of overall numbers of culturable micro-organisms right through to the highly sensitive detection of faecal contamination and the specific isolation of Legionella pneumophila.

Water Plate Count Agar (ISO) and R2A Medium, for example, deliver the total viable counts needed when assessing ground water integrity, water treatment processes and water supplies for food and beverage preparation. Lab M's Harlequin™ mLGA chromogenic medium and Tryptone Bile Agar enable the highly sensitive detection of faecal contamination in water, while Slanetz & Bartley medium is used for the presumptive enumeration of Enterococci using a membrane filtration technique (as described in ISO 7899-2:2000).

For Legionella detection, BCYE Legionella Medium is described in internationally recognised methodology (ISO 11731:1998) for the isolation of Legionella spp. from water. Lab M's selective supplement GVPC aids the specific isolation of Legionella pneumophila.

For details of Lab M's complete range of microbiological culture media and supplements visit www.labm.com