Abstract
Faecal indicator microorganisms have long been used by water quality industries to assess the quality of surface, ground and shellfish-harvesting waters. However, none of these indicators are universally accepted as they lack the desired characteristics of a suitable indicator. Further, they do not provide sufficient information regarding their source of origin. Over the past ten years, researchers have developed many phenotypic, genotypic and chemical methods to identify the sources of faecal contamination in waterways. However, there is no 'gold standard' method for faecal source tracking. This paper is a critical evaluation of faecal indicators along with the advantages and limitations of current source tracking methods.