Evaluating bacteriophage P22 as a tracer in a complex surface water system: the Grand River, Michigan.

Viruses are important pathogens in both marine and fresh water environments. There is a strong interest in using bacteriophages as tracers because of their role as model viruses, since dissolved chemical tracers may not adequately describe the behavior of viruses that are suspended colloids. Despite a large number of studies that examined the transport of bacteriophages in the subsurface environment, few studies examined phage transport in large and complex surface water systems. In this paper we report the results of a dual tracer study on a 40 km reach of the Grand River, the longest river in Michigan, and we examine the performance of bacteriophage P22 relative to a chemical tracer (Rhodamine WT). Our analysis based on the transient storage (TS) model indicated that P22 can be successfully used as a tracer in complex surface water environments. Estimated P22 inactivation rates were found to be in the range 0.27-0.57 per day (0.12-0.25 log10 per day). The highest inactivation rate was found in a reach with high suspended solids concentration, relatively low dissolved organic carbon content, and sediment with high clay content. Estimated TS model parameters for both tracers were found to be consistent with surficial geology and land use patterns. Maximum storage zone sizes for the two tracers were found in different river reaches, indicating that different processes contributed to TS within the same reach for the two tracers. This model can be used to examine the arrival times and concentrations of human viral pathogens released from untreated sewage at recreational areas.

Massive microbiological groundwater contamination associated with a waterborne outbreak in Lake Erie, South Bass Island, Ohio.

BACKGROUND: A groundwater-associated outbreak affected approximately 1,450 residents and visitors of South Bass Island, Ohio, between July and September 2004. OBJECTIVES: To examine the microbiological quality of groundwater wells located on South Bass Island, we sampled 16 wells that provide potable water to public water systems 15-21 September 2004. METHODS: We tested groundwater wells for fecal indicators, enteric viruses and bacteria, and protozoa (Cryptosporidium and Giardia). The hydrodynamics of Lake Erie were examined to explore the possible surface water-groundwater interactions. RESULTS: All wells were positive for both total coliform and Escherichia coli. Seven wells tested positive for enterococci and Arcobacter (an emerging bacterial pathogen), and F(+)-specific coliphage was present in four wells. Three wells were positive for all three bacterial indicators, coliphages, and Arcobacter; adenovirus DNA was recovered from two of these wells. We found a cluster of the most contaminated wells at the southeast side of the island. CONCLUSIONS: Massive groundwater contamination on the island was likely caused by transport of microbiological contaminants from wastewater treatment facilities and septic tanks to the lake and the subsurface, after extreme precipitation events in May-July 2004. This likely raised the water table, saturated the subsurface, and along with very strong Lake Erie currents on 24 July, forced a surge in water levels and rapid surface water-groundwater interchange throughout the island. Landsat images showed massive influx of organic material and turbidity surrounding the island before the peak of the outbreak. These combinations of factors and information can be used to examine vulnerabilities in other coastal systems. Both wastewater and drinking water issues are now being addressed by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Department of Health.

Detection of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts in sediment and biosolids by immunomagnetic separation.

A method for the detection of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts in sediment and wastewater biosolids has been developed using immunomagnetic separation kits that were designed for use with water. This method requires no pretreatment of the sediment or biosolids samples before the commercial kit application. Oocyst recovery efficiencies from sediment and biosolids using the modified Dynal (Lake Success, New York) and Crypto-Scan commercial methods (Immucell Corporation, Portland, Maine) ranged from 20 to 60%. While the sensitivity of the method is dependent on the amount of sediment processed and the equivalent volume examined under the microscope, it was able to detect 0.48 oocysts per gram dry weight sediment. Using this method, Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts were found at levels as high as 97 oocysts/g of primary biosolids and at levels up to 4 oocysts/g in polluted sediment.

Modeling the transport and inactivation of E. coli and enterococci in the near-shore region of Lake Michigan.

To investigate the transport and fate of fecal pollution at Great Lakes beaches and the health risks associated with swimming, the near-shore waters of Lake Michigan and two tributaries discharging into it were examined for bacterial indicators of human fecal pollution. The enterococcus human fecal pollution marker, which targets a putative virulence factor--the enterococcal surface protein (esp) in Enterococcus faecium, was detected in 2/28 samples (7%) in the tributaries draining into Lake Michigan and in 6/30 samples (20%) in Lake Michigan beaches. This was indicative of human fecal pollution being transported in the tributaries and occurrence at Lake Michigan beaches. To understand the relative importance of different processes influencing pollution transport and inactivation, a finite-element model of surf-zone hydrodynamics (coupled with models for temperature, E. coli and enterococci) was used. Enterococci appear to survive longer than E. coli, which was described using an overall first-order inactivation coefficient in the range 0.5-2.0 per day. Our analysis suggests that the majority of fecal indicator bacteria variation can be explained based on loadings from the tributaries. Sunlight is a major contributor to inactivation in the surf-zone and the formulation based on sunlight, temperature and sedimentation is preferred over the first-order inactivation formulation.