The papers in these Symposium proceedings show that the interest in the occurrence, behaviour and fate of a wide range of micro-organisms continues to grow. Four papers discuss risk assessment approaches to establish the likelihood of infection/disease resulting from exposure to microbially contaminated waters. 

The importance of microbial contamination of the food chain is emphasised by a number of contributions on the health risks associated with shellfish. Parasites continue to be a major area or research with both their occurrence throughout the environment and their behaviour in man-made water systems being addressed. 

Other topics covered by papers in these proceedings include: methodological advances; efficacy of treatment processes; removal by disinfection; monitoring; biofilms; and microbial survival in the environment.