The effectiveness of disinfection, as well as microbiological composition of water, are assessed by microbiological tests. The analysis usually takes from 24 to 48 hours. During this time the water produced at the water treatment plant has already been fed to the water supply system. In order to reduce the risk of bacteriological contamination, higher concentrations of disinfectants are maintained. Considering the fact that water supply systems use retention tanks with retention times of from 5 to 12 hours, microbiological tests should give the result in shorter time than water retention time in the water tanks. The aim of the study was to determine whether the bacterial community in static liquid medium with the control of absorbance change at 600 nm (OD600) can be applied as a diagnostic method at water treatment plant laboratories. The research on water and wastewater samples has shown that the duration of lag time λ depends on the approximate amount of bacteria and the initial conditions in liquid media at the start of the experiment. It has been shown that the method can be used in the future for rapid monitoring of bacteriological contamination in the water.