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Environmental Issues
Water Pollution: Indicators
2 questions from 2 papers, each with its answer.
- questions
- 2
- papers
- 2
- of Environmental Issues
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Appears in
Concepts tested
- Coliform bacteria as indicator of faecal pollution
- Coliform test for faecal contamination
All Questions
2004 AIPMT 1 question
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Common indicator organism of water pollution is :-Escherichia coli (a coliform bacterium) lives normally in the intestine of humans and other warm-blooded animals and is passed out in faeces in huge numbers.
Its presence in water shows that the water is contaminated with sewage (faecal matter) and may contain disease-causing organisms. So the coliform count (E. coli count) is the standard test of the quality of drinking water.
Eichhornia (water hyacinth) and Lemna grow abundantly in nutrient-rich (eutrophic) water but are not the standard indicator. Entamoeba is a pathogen, not a routine indicator.
So the common indicator organism of water pollution is Escherichia coli.
2003 AIPMT 1 question
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Escherichia coli is used as an indicator organism to determine pollution of water with :-Escherichia coli is a normal inhabitant of the human (and animal) large intestine and is passed out in faeces in very large numbers.
So its presence in a water sample shows contamination with sewage (faecal matter), and therefore the possible presence of intestinal pathogens (e.g. those causing cholera, typhoid and dysentery).
The coliform (E. coli) count is the standard test of drinking water quality. It does not indicate heavy metals, industrial effluents or pollen.
So E. coli is used as an indicator of pollution of water with faecal matter.