Water, the origin of life, we wouldn't be alive without it. However, if not treated with the respect it deserves, water can harbour pathogens such as Legionella and Clostridium perfringens, which if ingested or inhaled can cause harm to the public and your business.

To prevent these catastrophic events from happening, water must go through various treatments e.g. UV, chemical and bactericidal, to remove potential pathogens from the water before it is released into the public domain.

However, problems can occur beyond an operator's control which may weaken the effect of these treatments, such as a purification system failure or system hacking, for example.

Therefore, water requires regular testing and is critical for any business or municipal authority to protect the public from infection.

This special focus on the 'Microbiological Testing of Water' equips you with the latest methods from suppliers of routine water testing kits. There's also a podcast and webinar for you to enjoy!

A recent amendment to the EU Drinking Water Directive now requires mandatory Legionella testing, another lockdown restriction is eased and stagnant water needs to be tested, the hits keep coming! How are you going to improve your laboratory's workflow and produce consistent, reliable and fast keep results? This rapidmicrobiology special focus on products for testing water delivers the latest in technology for water testing labs.

In this recently revised directive, PCR is identified as a complementary tool for Legionella testing, and Bio-Rad's iQ-Check Legionella Aquadien DNA extraction short protocols and Free DNA Removal Solution protocol has recently received AFNOR validation according to ISO TS 12869 and NF T90-471.

BIOTECON and R-Biopharm both have RT-PCR kits that can rapidly detect & quantify low levels of viable Legionella pnuemophila plus screen for other Legionella spp.

How are you going to concentrate pathogens and viruses from water samples to match your sample size needed for your PCR, rapid or traditional culture methods? With just the push of a button on the Innovaprep concentrating pipette, large samples of up to 5L can be concentrated into 200 μL in just a few minutes. 

Looking for that supplier who wants to beat others on cost per test? Southern Group Laboratory (SGL) think they can, with their pre-poured microbiological media for water testing including those for Legionella spp. 

Think your microbiologists’ time could be better spent than on counting cells? With the MICA microcolony counters from DIAMIDEX, you can let artificial intelligence do the work and cut your incubation times by up to 80%!

Delivering counts within 10 minutes, without the need for growth, the Red One™ from Redberry uses a fully automated, touch-free membrane filtration system, suitable for volumes up to 100mL.

Cut out the hassle in confirming Clostridium perfringens colonies with CP ChromoSelect Agar from Merck KGAa/Millipore Sigma. This no-nonsense chromogenic agar can make light work of this elusive pathogen.

How reliable is your water testing method? Microbiologics makes life easier with their water testing reference strains and QC formats. Or maybe you're monitoring wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 and need peace of mind that your results are accurate? LGC AXIO Proficiency Testing can help you with its proficiency testing sample, compatible with CDC and WHO molecular assays.

If you're looking to change test kits altogether, look no further! A recent study by the Water Research Foundation (WRF) comparing test kits that detect SARS-CoV favoured the IDEXX test for consistency of detection. 

Plus, if you haven’t done so already, listen to Ray Petrisek in our podcast episode on Legionella. Ray was a principal investigator in the discovery of Legionella after the tragic mass infection event at the Legionnaires conference in Philadelphia back in 1976.

Bio-Rad’s AFNOR Validations for New Legionella PCR Protocols

Bio-Rad has received AFNOR validation for the iQ-Check Legionella Aquadien DNA extraction short protocols and Free DNA Removal Solution protocol according to ISO TS 12869 and NF T90-471. Learn more.
Find Out More

Clearly Colored Colonies to Detect Waterborne Clostridium perfringens

An innovative chromogenic medium to detect and identify C. perfringens in water samples and its smart advantages over the traditional TSC and m-CP agars.
Find Out More

Water Testing: Get Faster Results with Pasteurian Culture 2.0

Drastically reduce your water testing result times with the MICA Chromogenic and MICA Fluorescence microcolony counters. This rapid method's AI technology and unmatched optical resolution optimize ISO methods in water pathogen testing.
Find Out More

Are You Sure Your Testing for SARS-CoV-2 in Wastewater is Accurate and Reliable?

It is essential that laboratories monitoring SARS-CoV-2 levels in wastewater ensure their methods and results are reliable and accurate.  LGC AXIO Proficiency Testing offers a new sample for the detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater by nucleic acid amplification testing.
Find Out More

Rapid PCR Enumeration of Legionella spp., Including L. pneumophila and L. pn. serogroup 1

Detect and quantify all Legionella including the most harmful species L. pneumophila and L. pn serogroup 1 in a single PCR test. Water samples are analysed within 4 hours, colonies within 1 hr.
Find Out More

Legionella, A Waterborne Risk

COVID-19 has shut down many businesses, leaving buildings closed and water stagnant in systems allowing Legionella to multiply. Regular water analyses for Legionella must be performed under EU rules and r-biopharm's SureFast® PCR solution returns results in just a few hours.
Find Out More

IDEXX Water Test Supports Wastewater Surveillance to Track COVID-19

Water Research Foundation study data confirm repeatability and consistency of detection of IDEXX SARS-CoV-2 wastewater tests. The study showed the IDEXX Water SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR Test to outperform most methods in terms of detection.
Find Out More

Red One™: Instantaneous Automated Total Viable Count in Waters

Red One™ is a rapid, automated and easy solution to count viable micro-organisms (TVC) in waters (from 1ml to 100mL).  It showed unprecedented results in terms of sensitivity and repeatability compared to ATP monitoring or flow cytometry.
Find Out More

Concentrate Waterborne Pathogens, Including Viruses, in Minutes

Pre-analytical steps account for 70% of the labor & time required for sample analysis & significantly affect the quality of your results. The InnovaPrep method provides sample enrichment, inhibitor removal & repeatable results faster, easier, and better all in a tiny benchtop footprint.
Find Out More

High-Quality Culture Media for Water Testing from SGL

SGL is one of the largest providers of pre-poured microbiological culture media for all applications in water testing, from the estimation of total viable counts right through to the highly sensitive detection of waterborne contamination and specific isolation of L. pneumophila.
Find Out More

Simplify Water Testing QC with Microbiologics

Microbiologics simplifies water testing QC with the strains you need, available in a variety of easy-to-use formats.
Find Out More

One Lab's Experience of Testing for Legionella - a rapidmicrobiology podcast

In this episode on Legionella testing, we have Ray Petrisek, a principal investigator in the discovery of Legionella in the ‘70s, who gives advice on testing and sampling for Legionella and the limitations and advantages of test kits in today’s market.
Find Out More