Microbiological
3100Total Coliform
The health basis on which the EPA sets this contaminant's legal limit. Reported verbatim from the regulatory record — it is not a diagnosis or a prediction about any individual.
Indicates possible sewage or animal-waste contamination and potential pathogens.
- Maximum contaminant level
- 0.0 MPNLegal MCLEnforceable federal limit
- Health goal
- 0.0 MPNHealth goal (MCLG)No safe exposure level
- Category
- MicrobiologicalCategory
- Reporting unit
- MPNReporting unit
Regulatory basis
How Total Coliform is regulated
What the enforceable limit actually obliges a utility to do, and how it differs from the health-based goal it is measured against.
For Total Coliform both the enforceable limit and the health goal are 0. There is no permissible band: any confirmed detection is, by definition, an exceedance, which is why microbiological results are reported as present/absent rather than as a concentration to be compared against a threshold.
Results are reported in MPN. A laboratory result and the limits above are only comparable when both are expressed in that same unit — a value in a different unit will be off by orders of magnitude. WaterQualityLens groups Total Coliform under Microbiological for navigation; the grouping is ours, the limits are the regulator’s.
The record for Total Coliform
- Enforceable limit (MCL)
- 0
- Health goal (MCLG)
- 0
- Reporting unit
- MPN
- Category
- Microbiological
- Contaminant code
- 3100
Limits as published by EPA and state primacy agencies. This page reports regulatory and certification records; it does not assess anyone’s exposure and makes no health prediction.
Certification scope
Which certifications actually remove Total Coliform
Only NSF/ANSI 53, 58 and 401 are health-contaminant standards. A product certified only to Standard 42 (aesthetics) or 372 (lead-free materials) has not been verified to reduce Total Coliform, however the box is worded.
NSF/ANSI 53
Counts — health standardHealth effects: lead, VOCs, cysts, chromium, and (post-P473) PFAS reduction.
No filter in our registry holds a verified NSF/ANSI 53 claim for Total Coliform. That means we hold no certification record — not that the standard could never cover it.
NSF/ANSI 58
Counts — health standardReverse osmosis: dissolved inorganics, arsenic, hexavalent chromium, and total PFAS.
No filter in our registry holds a verified NSF/ANSI 58 claim for Total Coliform. That means we hold no certification record — not that the standard could never cover it.
NSF/ANSI 401
Counts — health standardEmerging/incidental compounds: pharmaceuticals and select trace contaminants.
No filter in our registry holds a verified NSF/ANSI 401 claim for Total Coliform. That means we hold no certification record — not that the standard could never cover it.
NSF/ANSI 42
Does not count — not a health standardAesthetic effects: chlorine, taste, odor, particulates. No health-contaminant protection.
No registry product lists Total Coliform under NSF/ANSI 42. It would not count as verification of Total Coliform reduction in any case.
NSF/ANSI 372
Does not count — not a health standardLead-free materials (manufacturing content only). Not a water-treatment claim.
No registry product lists Total Coliform under NSF/ANSI 372. It would not count as verification of Total Coliform reduction in any case.
Counts are of active products in the WaterQualityLens filter registry holding a verified claim for contaminant code 3100 under that standard, as recorded by the certifying body (NSF, WQA, or IAPMO). Certification is granted per contaminant, not per product: a filter certified to Standard 53 for one contaminant is not thereby certified for Total Coliform.
Certified reduction · commercial placements
Filters verified to reduce Total Coliform
These filters hold an independent NSF/ANSI health certification (Standard 53, 58, or 401) specifically for Total Coliform. Certification against a health standard means an accredited lab verified the filter reduces this contaminant — a materials-only claim such as NSF 42 or 372 does not.
No filter in our registry currently holds an independent NSF/ANSI health certification specifically for Total Coliform. For contaminants without a certified point-of-use option, treatment at the utility level or a physical lab test is the appropriate next step.
Hardware links are affiliate placements marked “Verified Partner.” Products appear here solely because they hold an independently verified NSF/ANSI health certification for Total Coliform; commercial arrangements never affect this list.