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True and False Positive Rates in Maximum Contaminant Level Tests
Journal article   Peer reviewed

True and False Positive Rates in Maximum Contaminant Level Tests

Jacqueline Oler
Environmental monitoring and assessment, v 17(2), pp 123-123
01 May 1991
PMID: 24233498

Abstract

EPA is promulgating a monthly maximum contaminant level (MCL) for total coliform bacteria in public drinking water systems. A classic decision theory approach is proposed for evaluating the stringency of an MCL by calculating the mean coliform level for 0.95 likelihood of detection. Since assessing contamination on a monthly MCL requires the assumption that sample outcomes can be aggregated across sampled sites over the month, the utility of a monthly MCL is questioned. The proposed approach could be used to determine test volumes that would make it possible for systems to ensure its customers water with any selected total coliform protection reliability standard. The method is applicable to any presence/absence test in fixed units of time, space, and volume, when the distribution of random contaminant-positive outcomes across the time and space of the sampling frame is established.

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