Team:WLC-Milwaukee/Project Summary
Project
Because Escherichia coli is a fecal coliform, its presence in water indicates the possibility of contamination by human waste. Thus, more serious pathogenic bacteria may be present. While there are many qualitative tests on the market for detection of harmful bacteria in water, they tend to be difficult to use or require long incubation times (up to two days). These tests provide valuable information about the safety of the water source, yet need to be faster and easier to use. An onsite and efficient test would eliminate uncertainty of water purity during incubation periods. Additionally, a cost effective and easy-to-use test would provide a solution to the existing expensive and confusing onsite tests. Using a portion of the Lambda Phage tail and an enzyme-linked colorimetric indicator, our team is developing such a test that will allow for easy analysis of results.
