本研究的目的是确定和评估检测地下水和其他水体中肠道病毒的替代方法。有几种方法被考虑用于人类肠道病毒的回收和检测，包括细胞培养、核酸扩增和杂交、这些方法的组合以及指示剂或替代物的使用。这四种方法的优缺点是根据与拟议的地下水消毒规则、监管机构和受监管社区的需求相关的标准进行评估的。 用于评估替代方案的标准是:检测或预测人类肠道病毒存在的可靠性，包括特异性、敏感性和相关措施；技术复杂性；而且，简单、实用、速度和成本都很高。

The objectives of this study were to identify and evaluate alternative approaches to detecting enteric viruses in groundwater and other waters. Several approaches are considered for the recovery and assay of human enteric viruses including cell cultures, nucleic acid amplification and hybridization, a combination of these methods, and the use of indicators or surrogates. The advantages and disadvantages of these four methods are evaluated on the basis of criteria that are relevant to the needs of the proposed Ground Water Disinfection Rule, regulators and the regulated community. The criteria used to evaluate the alternatives are: reliability in detecting or predicting the presence of human enteric viruses, including specificity, sensitivity and related measures; technical complexity; and, simplicity, practicality, speed and cost.