Overview
EN ISO 19250:2013 (identical to ISO 19250:2010) is an internationally recognized method for the detection of Salmonella spp. in water. Adopted by CEN in 2013, the standard specifies laboratory procedures for sample preparation, culture enrichment, plating and confirmation to determine presence or absence of Salmonella (presumptive or confirmed). It includes safety and sampling guidance and notes on epidemiological uses where alternative media may be required.
Key Topics
- Scope and purpose: Detection of Salmonella spp. in various water types (drinking, ground, surface, wastewater, sea water) where water is a potential vehicle of infection.
- Safety: Tests must be carried out in properly equipped laboratories by trained personnel; special care with pathogenic serovars (e.g., S. Typhi, S. Paratyphi).
- Sample concentration & sampling: Supports concentration methods such as membrane filtration when larger volumes are needed; references ISO 19458 for sampling.
- Pre-enrichment: Use of buffered peptone water at (36 ± 2) °C for (18 ± 2) h to recover injured or low-number cells.
- Selective enrichment: Parallel enrichment in Rappaport-Vassiliadis (RVS) broth (41.5 ± 1 °C, 24 ± 3 h) and Muller‑Kauffmann tetrathionate‑novobiocin (MKTTn) broth (37 ± 1 °C, 24 ± 3 h). Extended incubation up to ~48 h may be used for slow-growing strains.
- Plating media: Primary isolation on xylose lysine deoxycholate (XLD) agar plus a complementary selective agar chosen by the laboratory.
- Confirmation: Presumptive colonies require specific biochemical and serological tests to be reported as confirmed Salmonella spp.
- Result expression & reporting: Guidance on presence/absence reporting and semi-quantitative approaches (e.g., MPN) when required.
Applications
- Routine water quality monitoring for public health protection
- Drinking water and groundwater testing
- Wastewater and environmental surveillance
- Outbreak and epidemiological investigations where Salmonella contamination is suspected
- Laboratories implementing accredited microbiological methods (ISO/CEN frameworks)
Who should use this standard
- Public health and environmental microbiology laboratories
- Water utilities and drinking water authorities
- Contract analytical labs and research institutions
- Regulatory agencies and outbreak response teams
Related Standards
- ISO 6579 (detection in food and animal feed)
- ISO 19458 (sampling for microbiological analysis)
- ISO 7218, ISO 6887 series (laboratory guidance and sample preparation)
Keywords: EN ISO 19250:2013, ISO 19250:2010, water quality, Salmonella detection, selective enrichment, buffered peptone water, RVS, MKTTn, XLD agar, membrane filtration, MPN, microbiology of water.
