Summary The importance of aquatic microbiology for the control of water pollution and as a basis for the work of technicians concerned with the purification of sewage and the encouragement of self-purification, has increased greatly during the last 25 years. For this purpose new theoretical knowledge and methods are necessary. An example of this is the microscopic counting of bacteria on membrane filters, their use in the cultivation of heterotrophic bacteria, indicators of faecal pollution, with the basic biochemical identification of colonies on the membrane filter. The problem of pathogenic bacteria in water is becoming increasingly important from both the medical and vetinerary point of view. Among the facultatively pathogenic bacteria, more consideration should be given to the family Pseudomonadaceae. These bacteria are antagonistic to some Enterobacteriaceae (e.g.E. coli, Salmonellae, Shigellae, Serratiae). The study of the adaptation of bacteria to the aquatic environment has both theoretical and practical importance. This includes morphological and physiological changes which make the identification of many bacteria more difficult (e.g. faecal indicators). To solve these problems the Danube Research Group (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Donauforschung der SIL) should create suitable work-conditions for hydromicrobiologists.