Project Title

Detection of Elevated Levels of Escherichia coli in the Oconee River Greenway

Presentation Author(s) Information

Shayna Markel
Sanjay PatelFollow

Abstract

The purpose of our project was to monitor the water quality of the Oconee River Greenway in Milledgeville, Georgia to determine if the water is safe for primary contact recreational use. Monthly samples were collected from multiple sites along two rivers in the Oconee Greenway. A YSI multi-parameter probe was used to measure physicochemical parameters such as pH, temperature, conductivity, and dissolved oxygen. The pH values in the study sites ranged from 4.86 to 8.62 and the DO ranged from 7.16 mg/L to 11.41 mg/L. Fecal Indicator Bacteria were enumerated using IDEXX Colilert-18 for fecal coliforms and Escherichia coli specifically. The level of E. coli ranged from 2 cfu/100ml to 1299.7 cfu/100ml. The highest concentrations of E. coli were detected in one site along Fishing Creek (770 cfu/100ml) and one site in Tanyard Branch Stream (1299.7 cfu/100ml). These results indicated that the water quality in some regions of the Oconee Greenway exceeded the EPA’s recommended fecal bacteria criteria for safe recreational use. In addition, water samples were filtered through 0.45 μm nucleopore membrane filters followed by DNA extraction. Extracted DNA was quantified using a Nanodrop ND-1000. The source of the high level of fecal pollution will be determined using qPCR based microbial source tracking.

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Detection of Elevated Levels of Escherichia coli in the Oconee River Greenway

The purpose of our project was to monitor the water quality of the Oconee River Greenway in Milledgeville, Georgia to determine if the water is safe for primary contact recreational use. Monthly samples were collected from multiple sites along two rivers in the Oconee Greenway. A YSI multi-parameter probe was used to measure physicochemical parameters such as pH, temperature, conductivity, and dissolved oxygen. The pH values in the study sites ranged from 4.86 to 8.62 and the DO ranged from 7.16 mg/L to 11.41 mg/L. Fecal Indicator Bacteria were enumerated using IDEXX Colilert-18 for fecal coliforms and Escherichia coli specifically. The level of E. coli ranged from 2 cfu/100ml to 1299.7 cfu/100ml. The highest concentrations of E. coli were detected in one site along Fishing Creek (770 cfu/100ml) and one site in Tanyard Branch Stream (1299.7 cfu/100ml). These results indicated that the water quality in some regions of the Oconee Greenway exceeded the EPA’s recommended fecal bacteria criteria for safe recreational use. In addition, water samples were filtered through 0.45 μm nucleopore membrane filters followed by DNA extraction. Extracted DNA was quantified using a Nanodrop ND-1000. The source of the high level of fecal pollution will be determined using qPCR based microbial source tracking.