Man and river : a preliminary report on the origin and nature of faecal coliforms in two Tasmanian rivers

This Report is very much of a preliminary nature. It is a first attempt to determine the relevant influences acting on a local river system in order to explain various phenomena of faecal coliform activity observed by others both locally and overseas. The work is intended to determine the important parameters controlling the coliforms in the systems being examined so that later definitive work can be clearly focused. Our approach has entailed the establishment of a broad background picture of the environmental system in which the coliforms live and in which the tests for them have been determined. There is then, much which will not be needed for later detailed studies, but which must first be done in order to establish what is necessary and what is not. Our scope has been greatly limited by restrictions of time, laboratory space and equipment, restricting work to only the winter months though it is perhaps a finding in itself that the summer months appear to be the most important. The Report is written in a discursive style, and we have attempted to make each section and chapter as self contained as possible, so that persons unfamiliar with the field could, by repetition, gain some idea of the principles on which we have based our work.