The growth of the population and the increase of the water use for different activities, have increased the contamination levels. This contamination is related to the spills of domestic and industrial origin to the water bodies. In the case of the ones of domestic origin, the polluting load is represented by high percentage of organic matter and microorganisms of fecal origin. These microorganisms are causes of diseases of hydric origin, that generate high percentage of mortality in the population. The control of the microbiological quality of the spill and consumption water, requires a series of analyses to determine the presence of pathogenic microorganisms. The diagnosis of these microorganisms requires specialized laboratories and represents several days of analysis and high costs. Like alternative to these advisable ones, the use of microbial indicators that can be identified by means of the use of simple, fast and economic methods has been suggested. This document makes a revision of the main indicators of fecal contamination and its meaning in the evaluation of the quality of the water.