<i>Cryptosporidium</i> and <i>Giardia</i> in Water: Reassessment of Occurrence and Significance

Abstract

The current approach in the U.S. water industry for monitoring Cryptosporidium and Giardia has weaknesses that have contributed to the difficulty of interpreting resulting data. This often leads to potentially significant and dangerous misinterpretation. The purpose of this paper is to summarize information on which the conflicting conclusions on the occurrence and distribution of Cryptosporidium and Giardia have been based. Effort is made to determine the most plausible and supportable interpretation. The objective is to provide a basis for rethinking the current approach to monitoring and management of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in water. The importance of measuring recovery efficiency and reporting measurements of these organisms in terms of concentration to any quantitative application is emphasized. Data presentation to illustrate critical features of organism concentration levels and variation is reviewed. Analysis of major data sets resulting from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Information Collection Rule Supplemental Survey (USEPA ICR SS) and the Long-Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2) monitoring and other previously published relevant data sets is presented to illustrate key features of Cryptosporidium and Giardia occurrence in surface water and their universal geographic distribution. Current thinking emphatically requires revision.