Industrial Test Systems 487197 WaterWorks EZ Cult Bacteria Test

Assuming it is accurate, this was easy to use, and inexpensive. Fortunately, all tests well on our water. I purchased a $6 UV flashlight, which you don't need for the basic test, but helps with the more thorough examination of results.I have more confidence in my water now. So maybe I shouldn't have bought that UV sterilizer attachment for our RO system after all... <grin>

Easy to use and good price for a qualitative test.Suggestions for improvement:1. Add a mark in the bottle to indicate the desired ideal amount of H2O to add to the bottle.2. Clarify the meaning of a test that turned (+) for coliforms after a period of incubation longer than indicated.

I have purchased two of these tests. We are selling our parents home and we did a comprehensive real estate test to see if there were any issues. The water tested fine EXCEPT for coliform bacteria. We shocked the well with chlorox and about 6 weeks later did this test. It showed negative so we thought we were all set. Took a long while another 9 months before the house is under contract, I bought another one of these before I paid the $$$ for the real estate water test. The second one of these was also negative. Went ahead with the $$$ real estate water test and AGAIN it failed on coliform bacteria. So I can only conclude that this test is either not very SENSITIVE or just not very accurate...

I found this easy to use and very useful for finding the source of the coliform contamination in my well system.I had previously done a full lab test ($$$) which showed total coliform in the drinking water but not E.coli. It would have been too expensive to run the full lab test at each stage of the system to diagnose where the contamination was coming from so this test was perfect. I used 3 tests. Since I wasn't concerned with E.coli detection I didn't need the UV light. Sample the water and follow the instructions carefully - the bottle does not have a marker line so I used a large syringe to sample the water and accurately add the required amount to the test bottle. I then incubated at 35C using an egg incubator. 24 hours later had the results and knew what need treating and what was ok. Results were easy to readOne star off for having no marker line for fill level

The bottle on the left is from industrial test system and the other bottle is from other company that I bought thru amazon. I just shock our well and trying to pass the water lab exam (E.coli and total cauliform) for the 4th time to refinance our house and somebody told me to use this diy test bottle, I bought another one from different company to make sure the result is accurate. I filled both bottles almost to the neckline from our well water and put them on top of our water heater "to incubate" for 2 days and to my surprise, they have different results, as you can see their different color. So leaving no choice, I called again the water lab company to test again our well water, and the result is our well is Negative from e.coli and total cauliform. This diy bottle has an accurate result and I am recommending this not so expensive little tester.

I've been having trouble with a new well testing positive with Coliform Bacteria. Had a local lab run the tests for $40 bucks which gives me the total count as well. That is extra. I found these and used two of them. So far it came back with no Coliform. I called them and talked to a very nice lady who gave me great information and was really helpful. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to anyone. The test I had done locally said my total count was 7 which maybe it wouldn't show up in this test. It's rated for a total count of 5 and up. I'm going to try another test that should be more sensitive to see what result I get with it.

I'm not sure about the accuracy of this test. I incubated the bottle for 24 hours at 95 degrees and it was still yellow. But the next day it turned bluish green. I put a UV light to it and it seemed to be florescent but it was hard to say. Almost everything I shine a UV light on seems to glow brightly.There are different kinds of E. coli and the deadly kind, E. coli 0175, might not show up with this test. I know that the commonly used 3M Petrifilm indicates the presence of E. coli but not E. coli 0175. Does this test indicate E. coli 0175? The literature doesn't say.I'm testing well water that I'm going to use just for irrigation so all I'm concerned with is E. coli 0175. I'm not sure this is a good test for my purposes.Probably a better, cheaper way to test water is with the 40 test tube kit. It gives a general kind of result, but it appears that's the best you can do with consumer quality testing kits.

This test is pretty easy to do and tests for both coliforms in general and E. coli (if you have a 365 nm UV light). There's no documentation available that provides the test performance parameters (sensitivity/specificity), and it is qualitative. A lab can do a quantitative test if needed (i.e., not just whether coliforms are present but how much after culturing). My own test result was positive (for both) initially, then after a bleach bomb it turned and (so far) has stayed negative. If bacterial contamination is a concern, this test is cheap enough to do periodically, possibly with lab-based confirmation if it turns positive or as a quality check of the negatives.The pictures show the progression of my positive sample from the initial yellow (looking like a urine specimen) to blue-green over a couple of days, and the UV test. If negative, it'll stay yellow.Update: I've revised this to three stars, because the color change can be relatively subtle. The last picture, showing the two tests, reflects two positives. One is sort of obvious (albeit nowhere near as blue as the other positive image). The other one is decidedly borderline. These were drawn at the same time, and I simultaneously had a quantitative test done by the cooperative extension lab: I definitely had massive coliform contamination in the water (though no E. coli).Almost no test is 100% sensitive (or specific), but this should serve as an indication that any test with this kit that shows any changes at all should be backed up by a quantitative evaluation.