本研究的目的是开发和评估一种简单的膜过滤方法，用于原水和成品饮用水中F-特异性大肠杆菌噬菌体的浓缩和直接计数，该方法使用广泛可用的，廉价的膜过滤器和过滤设备，但能够处理足够大的样本量，以检测饮用水及其来源中可能存在的低浓度噬菌体。然后，通过测定饮用水处理厂源水中的F-特异性大肠杆菌噬菌体浓度，并将其与粪便指示菌的浓度进行比较，对开发的方法进行了现场试验。这项研究的结果提供了令人鼓舞的证据，证明F- 通过简单、快速和廉价的膜过滤方法，可以在一些饮用水源中容易地检测到特定的大肠杆菌噬菌体，这些噬菌体可能是粪便污染和肠道病毒的可靠和有用的指标。

The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a simple membrane filter method for concentration and direct enumeration of F- specific coliphages in raw, and finished drinking waters that employs widely available, inexpensive membrane filters and filtration apparatus and yet is able to process sufficiently large sample volumes to detect the low concentrations of phages that might be present in drinking water and their sources. The method developed was then field tested by determining F-specific coliphage concentrations in source waters of drinking water treatment plants and comparing them to those of fecal indicator bacteria. The results of this study provide encouraging evidence that F-specific coliphages can be readily detected in some drinking water sources by a simple, rapid and inexpensive membrane filter method and that these phages may be reliable and useful indicators of fecal contamination and perhaps enteric viruses.