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Previous studies have shown that some bacteria preferentially attach to sediment but a standard procedure does not exist to separate attached and unattached bacteria. In this project, we are developing a method to distinguish and quantify between E. coli attached to clay particles and E. coli freely suspended in solution. Two methods to detect differences between unattached and attached E. coli were compared, settling (or centrifugation followed by settling) and flow cytometry. Each method was tested using three environmental strains collected from swine facilities; three clay particles: Kaolinite, Ca-Montmorillonite, Montmorillonite K-10; and a range of surface area ratios (clay particle surface area to E. coli surface area).