Methods for the routine assay of waterborne pathogens have advanced significantly in recent years. Giardia cysts, Cryptosporidium oocysts, coliforms and E. coli can all be identified within 24 hours. The waterborne viral pathogens, however, still stand out as a group requiring prolonged methods for their assay. Routine detection methods isolate a sub-group known as the culturable enteroviruses. Detection of these enteroviruses by cell culture requires at least a week and confirmation and identification another 2 to 3 days minimum. The advent of molecular biological techniques has enabled water virologists to tackle many of these outstanding problems. However, although the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology is rapid, it does not distinguish between viable and nonviable enteroviruses (unlike cell culture) and it can also be sensitive to inhibitory materials present in the sample. Previous work has shown that a combination of cell culture and PCR on the culture fluid can reduce detection time to as little as 2 days. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential for further reductions by conducting PCR analysis on the cells.