Table.

Microbial quality of domestic water collected from three sources used by residents of the Tshikuwi community, South Africa, during an outbreak of diarrhoea

Water source	Date of water sampling	Faecal coliform (cfu/100 mL)*Limit for no risk= 0 cfu/100 mL	Total coliform (cfu/100 mL) Limit for no risk= 0–5 cfu/100 mL	Enterococci (cfu/100 mL) Limit for no risk= 0–5 cfu/100 mL	Heterotroph (cfu/1 mL) Limit for no risk= 0–100 cfu/mL
Tank 1	6 July 2006	50.5±5.0	334.0±8.5	25.0±5.0	1.02×103
	29 July 2006	5.5±2.1	30.0±5.7	8.5±2.0	3.8×102
	2 October 2006	13.0±1.4	36.5±6	6.0±5.0	4.2×103
Tank 2	6 July 2006	0	0	0	7.8×102
	29 July 2006	0	0	0	5
	2 October 2006	0	0	0	50
Khandanama river	6 July 2006	107.0±12.7	388.0±29.7	63.5±6.4	6.1×103
	29 July 2006	112.0±11.3	397.0±23.3	45.0±4.2	2.4×104
	2 October 2006	35.0±4.2	387.0±15.6	56.0±5.7	2.6×104

Water samples were analyzed in duplicate. The values for faecal coliforms, total coliforms, and enterococci counts are the means±standard deviations

* The limit for no risk for each of the indicator organisms is as prescribed by the South African water-quality guidelines for domestic use (5). It could be seen that, during the study period, the faecal coliform, total coliform, enterococci, and heterotrophic counts were much higher than the recommended minimum for Tank 1 and the Khandamana river. The counts for Tank 2 were within the acceptable limits, except for the heterotrophic counts