Monitoring fecal coliform bacteria concentrations for the assessment of recreational safety of kayak chutes in Great Miami River near downtown, Dayton, OH.

Monitoring fecal coliform bacteria concentrations for the assessment of recreational safety of kayak chutes in Great Miami River near downtown, Dayton, OH.

Presenter(s)

Audrey Allison Hayes, Suzanne L Lowes

Description

To determine the potential risks to human health of newly-developed recreational kayak chutes in the downtown Dayton, OH area, surface water samples were collected from sites in the Great Miami River, Mad River, Wolf Creek, and Rubicon Creek. Samples were collected directly from the main river channel adjacent to the kayak chutes and from local stormwater outfalls that empty into rivers and streams near the kayak chutes. Surface water samples were put on ice and taken to the lab where they were cultured in an incubator and counts were made of fecal coliform colonies. Colony concentrations for total fecal coliforms and E. coli regularly exceeded the Ohio EPA’s class A standards for recreational waters. It was found that concentrations increased as the water level increased due to heavy precipitation. Future directions include determining the source of the E. coli contamination in the Rubicon Creek outfall, which may reveal the University of Dayton’s impact on coliform bacteria concentrations since this is the campus’s main outfall into the Great Miami River. We also plan to collect samples from kayak chutes outside of the Great Miami River.

Publication Date

4-18-2018

Project Designation

Independent Research

Primary Advisor

Jeffrey L. Kavanaugh

Primary Advisor's Department

Biology

Keywords

Stander Symposium project

Monitoring fecal coliform bacteria concentrations for the assessment of recreational safety of kayak chutes in Great Miami River near downtown, Dayton, OH.

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