Membrane filter method for the isolation and enumeration of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from swimming pools

A membrane filter technique using black membrane filters, MacConkey agar and fluorescence under ultraviolet (UV) light was investigated for the quantitative isolation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from swimming pools. Three thousand four hundred forty-five samples were collected from public swimming pools and enumerated by this method over a 6-month period. Fluorescent cultures were isolated from 222 specimens. Seventy-seven of these fluorescent cultures were selected for biochemical screening, with 75 (97%) being verified as P. aeruginosa. To further assess the specificity and sensitivity of this UV screening technique, a comparative study was made of some morphological and biochemical characteristics of fluorescent pseudomonads obtained from different sources. The sensitivity of the method was unimpaired by either colony types or biochemical variations of P. aeruginosa. The failure of the other two fluorescent species, P. fluorescens and P. putida, to grow and/or fluoresce on MacConkey agar at 37 C illustrates the specificity of this technique. Further studies are needed to compare the viability of P. aeruginosa on MacConkey agar to that of efficacious nonselective media.