Abstract
In the United States the presence of the coliform group of organisms, especially Escherichia coli, serves as an indicator of fecal contamination. In recent years there has been a steady increase of interest in the enterococci, members of the genus Streptococci, as indicators. |It is still debatable whether the coliforms or the enterococci are better indicators of contamination in food and water. However, there is a definite trend toward the use of the enterococci in preference to the coliform group for the detection of bacterial contamination.|It is of interest to note that the enterococci are used in some countries as official indicators of fecal pollution. This is true in France and Germany. |This project is designed not to determine the sanitary significance of the enterococci, but rather to isolate, identify and enumerate them from natural sources, together with the coliforms isolated from the same sources.