Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi, I am doing a science experiment on different ways to purify water in emergencies. I did the different treatments and using a qtip to transfer the water from each treatment to individual petri dishes. There is a lot of bacetria growth on 2 of the petri dishes, actually there is so much it is hard to count all the colonies. Is there any other way to show the results of the bacteria?
Thanks

The simplest way I think to remedy that would be to repeat the experiment but let the bacteria grow for less time.

Are you using sterile Q-Tips? The ones you buy at the supermarket aren't sterile unless they are labeled as such. Another way to do it would be to use a sterile dropper and drop a single drop onto the plate, then spread the drop across the plate's surface with a sterile loop or glass rod.