City of Boulder/USGS Water Quality Monitoring

Map bar plots are plotted
on the following scale

Marker indicates no data available.
Boulder Creek Watershed
North Boulder Creek - Boulder Creek
Fecal Coliform Time Series for 1998
Indicated monitoring site:

Select on the map plot to view detailed time series information for Fecal Coliform at that site. Select on the site icon to view time series information for all parameters at that site.


Information on Fecal Coliform:

Fecal Coliform Bacteria is found in the intestinal tracts of mammals. High concentrations of the bacteria in water or sludge suggest the presence of disease-causing organisms, and may be caused by septic tank failure, poor pasture and animal keeping practices, pet waste, and urban runoff.

To measure fecal coliform bacteria, water samples are collected in sterilized containers, filtered, and incubated at a certain temperature. The resulting bacterial colonies that form are counted and recorded as the number of colony producing units per 100 ml of water (CPU/100 ml). Safe drinking water should have fecal coliform counts of 0 CPU/100 ml. For safe swimming, concentrations less than 200 CPU/100 ml is desirable, and for boating, less than 1000 CPU/100 ml is desirable. However, these standards may vary at the local, state, and federal level.

More general information about Fecal Coliform
Measurement of Fecal Coliform
Factors affecting Fecal Coliform
Standards regarding Fecal Coliform
Interpretation of Boulder Creek Fecal Coliform data
Data Source: City of Boulder Water Quality Monitoring
Point of Contact: Chris Rudkin
Collection and Analysis notes
Analysis method: SM 9222D

Return to the BASIN water quality catalog

Return to the BASIN environmental data catalog


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Last Page Update - Friday December 23, 2005