[Microbiology of ground water and drinking water]

Groundwater has been considered a safe source for drinking water protected against surface contamination. However, a number of reports about chemical and microbiological contamination have disproved this assumption. Besides hygienical monitoring, little is known about the microbiology of ground- and drinking water. The purpose of this paper is to give a review about the main fields of investigation concerning microbial activity in ground- and drinking-water-action. The hygienical relevant topics are: survival and transport of microorganisms, microbiological degradation of organic pollutants, turn-over of nitrogen compounds, oxidation and reduction of iron and manganese and development of methods for microbiological water examination.