Rapid detection of bacteria in water

A rapid detection of bacteria in water is essential for a timely response. This applies primarily to drinking water, be it bottled water or water from a public supply system, but is equally important for the analysis of water from swimming pools and beaches, and ballast water from oceangoing ships discharging into coastal or inland waters of the US. There are several methods available today for a rapid test including PCR based methods, flow cytometry, and electro chemiluminescence, to name a few. All of the above methods work, but are complicated and/or require expensive equipment and highly trained analysts in a laboratory. The method described here is based on lysing the bacteria after capture on a membrane filter, and measuring the ATP in a luminometer after the addition of luciferin/luciferase. This bioluminescence test can be done onsite, in less than 5 minutes, with equipment that fits onto a clipboard. It is a fast screening test that indicates if there is enough biologically active material in the same to pose a threat to the consumer. If this is the case, an additional step using immunomagnetic separation may be used to identify the responsible organisms. Tests have been done with E. coli 0157:H7, pseudomonas, and logionella. These tests take about 30 minutes each, and allow a quick determination of bacterial threats in a field situation.