Don’t waste your money with outdated test methods

Lift boil water alerts in 18 hours with Colilert-18 total coliform and E. coli test

Facilities like yours worldwide have stopped sending their water samples off-site for total coliform and E. coli tests. Implement this EPA approved, simple and accurate method for water testing in your facility and get reliable in-house results in 18 hours.

If you still have doubts and reservations about in-house testing, we’ll bust some water testing myths now.

Myth #1: In-house test kits are never as accurate as those performed by a state-certified lab.

Here’s the run down of the membrane filtration method, which is the standard testing procedure in labs.
When your water sample arrives at a testing facility, a technician will first filter it through a membrane to collect any microorganisms.
This membrane filter needs to be incubated for at least 28 hours with a manual step of chemical reagent change and sample transfer in between. Then a technician has to examine the sample under a microscope to check for E. coli colonies…
This traditional way of water testing is labor intensive and subjective, which is why it costs so much of your time and money.
And it’s not uncommon that you will be asked for a retest.
Resampling, retesting, public notice, shutdown, and more waiting. Do you hear your budget flowing down the drain?

Do you know why?
The membrane filter method is notorious for generating false positive and/or false negative results.
Imagine trying to pick out specific molecules, the coliform and E. coli colonies, through a volume of microorganisms caught in the membrane. That is the task of a lab technician, and this subjective approach is why false positives happen. Moreover, the trauma of being filtered and the common use of concentrated salt or detergent as a selective suppressor might stunt and put a limit on coliform and E. coli vitality, rendering false negative results.
In general, the risk of inaccurate results using the membrane filtration method is 3 times greater than using an enzyme-based presence/absence test, such as Colisure and Colilert.
Colilert-18 has replaced another traditional testing procedure, the multiple-tube method, as the new worldwide ISO standard for the quantitative bacterial count method for detecting total coliforms and E. coli in water.

🗹 EPA approved for drinking, source and waste waters

Product list:

Myth #2: In-house testing is complicated and requires specialist training.

Colisure and Colilert test kits come in pre-measured unit doses. There is no media preparation and less than 1 minute of hands-on time. No glassware, no clean up.

Myth #3: In-house test kits are inconclusive and require confirmation from labs.

Colisure and Colilert are enzyme-based presence/absence tests. Their chemical compounds operate simultaneously in three directions:

1. Suppress non-target microorganisms, heterotrophs, including aeromonas. The chemical reagent in Colisure is designed to effectively suppress up to 2 million of non-coliform bacteria per 100 mL for 48 hours. This allows for a long window of 24 - 48 hours for valid result reading.
2. Target and react with any coliform enzymes present in your water sample and change their color.
3. Target and react specifically with the E. coli strains and turn them fluorescent.

A more accurate method than the m Endo Agar LES method with membrane filters, which is the standard procedure for water-testing labs

Labor intensive: the membrane filter method requires two chemical reagent media, a sample transfer, and a total incubation time of 28 hours.

Subjective: manual bacterial identification and colony counting under a microscope.

False positives: clogged membranes and non-target organism activities interfere with test results.

False negatives: aggressive selective agents such as salts and detergents, which also have an effect on coliform and E. coli

Results from Colisure and Colilert are conclusive and definitive. You can respond immediately to the test result.

• 🗹 No confirmation test needed
• 🗹 No unnecessary public notice
• 🗹 Lift boil water alerts in 18 hours
• 🗹 Read afternoon tests the next morning

Myth #4 I would have to train staff and in-house testing would not end up saving me that much budget.

Yes, there would be some preparation involved when switching to a new testing protocol.
A standard lab charges you at least $30 for a basic total coliform and E. coli test for drinking water. Plus shipping costs, backlogs and the possibilities for retesting.
Why not order a pack of Colilert-18 today, and figure out the exact savings in-house, in your own time. Our warehouses are always stocked and our specialists available to answer any of your questions.