Evaluation of hydrogen sulphide test for detection of fecal coliform contamination in drinking water from various sources

The assessment of H2S field test for detection of potability of drinking water was evaluated by analysing 1050 water samples from various sources at room temperature and at 37oC after 18, 24, and 48 h of incubation. The H2S test showed 100, 84 and 89% correlation with Eijkman test, Membrane Filter Technique (MFT) and Most Probable Number (MPN) test for coliform, respectively. In comparisons with MPN the H2S test showed 84% correlation with open well water, 80% with tube well water and 94% with hotels and restaurants water at room temperature, indicating decrease in efficacy of this test with depth of source of water. The test can be used in the field or in village level without any skilled personnel. Hence the test can be recommended for detection of fecal contamination in drinking water in the field where laboratory facilities are limited.