Abstract： Simultaneous determination of fecal coliforms in 30 parallel samples was carried out by using the multi-tube fermentation method and the enzymatic substrate method. The results of the comparative data showed that the experimental results determined by the two methods were correlated and not statistically significantly different. Although the multi-tube fermentation method, as a classical method for fecal coliform detection, requires more reagents and equipment, more analytical steps, and a long detection cycle, the relative deviation of the sample results was significantly higher than that of the enzyme substrate method. The enzyme substrate method has a shorter detection period, is easy to operate, and requires less environmental conditions, which makes up for the shortcomings of the multi-tube fermentation method and can better meet the requirements of environmental monitoring.
