The concept of utilizing cultivated fungi to perform environmental services in water treatment applications warrants future research to realize its potential as a new ecological engineering technique.Thorough analysis of any correlation between E. coli indicator bacteria removal and waterborne pathogen removal will also be essential to fully understand the value of mycofiltration and to support its adoption as a regulated management practice. Future efforts would also be improved by comparing E. coli removal between material produced using sterile and non-sterile methods. While sterile methods are not likely to be applicable or practicable in the field, a comparison between these methods would illuminate possible confounding variables in this study, such as a resident population of coliform bacteria on some substrate types. Additional research is also needed to explore straw as a potential source of thermotolerant coliform bacterial contamination. This research is of particular regulatory significance due to the widespread use of straw as a stormwater treatment practice and the growing number of bacteria total maximum daily load (TMDL) regulatory actions nation-wide.Further investigations using straw from multiple sources could also help determine if straw as a substrate is susceptible to harboring thermotolerant coliform bacteria, as suggested by this study.