WATER VIROLOGY EXTERNAL QUALITY ASSURANCE SCHEME - EXPERIENCES OVER 4YEARS

The Water Virology External Quality Assurance (EQA) Scheme has distrib uted samples containing enterovirus to the specialised virus laborator ies in Britain which analyse recreational water. Duplicate samples wer e either assayed for direct virus count or added to 101 of water, conc entrated to 10ml and then assayed for virus counts. Although similar c ounts were obtained in different laboratories on direct assays, a wide range of virus counts was reported after water processing. However, r obust attention to method detail and stringent quality control has bee n shown to improve the consistency of virus re-every rates. The result s of tests for enterovirus in recreational water can then be used with confidence. (C) 1997 IAWQ. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.