m-TEC Agar is used with urea for the isolation and enumeration of thermotolerant E. coli from water using the membrane filtration technique. E. coli is used as an indicator of fecal pollution in water. Researchers have been able to to quantitate E. coli on m-TEC Agar with 24 hours without requiring subculture and identification of isolates. m-TEC is an acronymn for membrane thermotolerant E. coli.