使用生物标志物来识别水中的粪便来源在流域管理中具有重要价值。本文将回顾目前用于废物源识别的四种协议。有趣的是，所有这些都是基于大肠杆菌的，大肠杆菌是温血动物粪便污染的长期指标。其中三种方法使用大肠杆菌的DNA来确定粪便来源，最后一种方法使用感染大肠杆菌的细菌病毒。尽管还有许多其他程序，但这四种程序的背景信息是迄今为止最完善的。本文的重点不是方法本身，而是如何应用。采样策略和在样本中选择代表性数量的菌株对于生成准确数据是必要的。此外，选择适当的方法来回答流域面临的问题，并对应用这些方法时生成的数据进行适当解释，对于管理者和决策者得出的结论的有效性至关重要。 包括48个参考文献和表格。

The use of biomarkers to identify fecal waste sources in water can be of great value in watershed management. This paper will review four protocols currently used in waste source identification. Interestingly, all are based on E. coli, a long standing indicator of fecal pollution from warm blooded animals. Three of the methods use DNA from E. coli to determine the fecal source and the last uses a bacterial virus that infects E. coli. Although many other procedures exist, the background information on these four is the best developed to date. The focus of the paper is not on the methodology itself but rather how it is applied. Sampling strategy and selection of representative numbers of isolates within a sample are necessary for the generation of accurate data. Also, the selection of the appropriate method to answer the question the watershed is facing and suitable interpretation of data generated when these methods are applied is crucial to the validity of conclusions drawn by managers and policy makers. Includes 48 references, tables.