Library
Drinking Water Research Articles
2008
A Diatom-based Water Quality Model for Great Lakes Coastlines
Author: Euan D. Reavie
Source: Journal of Great Lakes Research, pp. 86–92
Publisher: Center for Water and the Environment, Natural Resources Research Institute,
University of Minnesota Duluth, 1900 East Camp Street, Ely, Minnesota 55731
URL: http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-abstract7&
doi=10.3394%2F0380-1330%282007%2933%5B86%3AADWQMF%5D2.0.CO%3B2
ABSTRACT: Diatom-based models to infer nutrient concentrations are proven robust indicators, but evidence suggests that in the future these models will be little improved by using larger training sets. I present a simple means to summarize the water quality (WQ) data from a suite of coastal Great Lakes locations and develop a diatom-based WQ model using standard weighted-averaging methods. A one-dimensional WQ index was derived by summarizing measured environmental data (nutrients, pigments, solids) using dimension-reducing ordination and calculating the primary WQ gradient of interest. Evaluations of weighted-averaging diatom model predictions (WQ index model: r2jackknife = 0.62, RMSEP = 1.32) indicate that the model has reconstructive power similar to a comparative model for total phosphorus concentrations (TP model: r2jackknife = 0.65, RMSEP = 0.26 log[µg/L + 1]), but that predictive bias was lower for the WQ model. Also, inferred WQ index data had a higher correlation to adjacent watershed characteristics than inferred TP data. We attribute this to the ability of an integrated WQ index to better characterize the overall quality of a site than a single nutrient variable such as phosphorus. The diatom-based WQ model may be advantageous for management where it is necessary to provide a summary inference of water quality condition at a coastal locale.
High sensitivity of children to swimming-associated gastrointestinal illness: results
using a rapid assay of recreational water quality.
Authors: Wade TJ, Calderon RL, Brenner KP, Sams E, Beach M, Haugland R, Wymer L, Dufour AP.
Source: Epidemiology; 2008 May;19(3):375-83.
Publisher: US Environmental Protection Agency, National Health and Environmental Effects
Research Laboratory, Chapel Hill, NC 27711, USA.
URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18379427?ordinalpos=1&itool= EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
ABSTRACT: Culture-based methods of monitoring fecal pollution in recreational waters require 24 to 48 hours to obtain results. This delay leads to potentially inaccurate management decisions regarding beach safety. We evaluated the quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QPCR) as a faster method to assess recreational water quality and predict swimming-associated illnesses. METHODS: We enrolled visitors at 4 freshwater Great Lakes beaches, and contacted them 10 to 12 days later to ask about health symptoms experienced since the visit. Water at the beaches was polluted by point sources that carried treated sewage. We tested water samples daily for Enterococcus using QPCR and membrane filtration (EPA Method 1600). RESULTS: We completed 21,015 interviews and tested 1359 water samples. Enterococcus QPCR cell equivalents (CEs) were positively associated with swimming-associated gastrointestinal (GI) illness (adjusted odds ratio per 1 log10 QPCR CE =1.26; 95% confidence interval = 1.06-1.51). The association between GI illness and QPCR CE was stronger among children aged 10 years and below (1.69; 1.24-2.30). Nonenteric illnesses were not consistently associated with Enterococcus QPCR CE exposure, although rash and earache occurred more frequently among swimmers. Enterococcus QPCR CE exposure was more strongly associated with GI illness than Enterococcus measured by membrane filtration. CONCLUSIONS: Measurement of the indicator bacteria Enterococci in recreational water using a rapid QPCR method predicted swimming-associated GI illness at freshwater beaches polluted by sewage discharge. Children at 10 years or younger were at greater risk for GI illness following exposure.
High-throughput and quantitative procedure for determining sources of
Escherichia coli in waterways by using host-specific DNA marker genes.
Authors: Yan T, Hamilton MJ, Sadowsky MJ.
Source: Applied Environmental Microbiology. 2007 Feb;73(3):890-6. Epub 2006 Dec 8.
Publisher: BioTechnology Institute, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.
URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17158618?ordinalpos=8&itool=EntrezSystem2.P Entrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
ABSTRACT: Escherichia coli is currently used as an indicator of fecal pollution and to assess water quality. While several genotypic techniques have been used to determine potential sources of fecal bacteria impacting waterways and beaches, they do not allow for the rapid analysis of a large number of samples in a relatively short period of time. Here we report that gene probes identified by Hamilton and colleagues (M. J. Hamilton, T. Yan, and M. J. Sadowsky, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72:4012-4019, 2006) were useful for the development of a high-throughput and quantitative macroarray hybridization system to determine numbers of E. coli bacteria originating from geese/ducks. The procedure we developed, using a QBot robot for picking and arraying of colonies, allowed us to simultaneously analyze up to 20,736 E. coli colonies from water samples, with minimal time and human input. Statistically significant results were obtained by analyzing 700 E. coli colonies per water sample, allowing for the analysis of approximately 30 sites per macroarray. Macroarray hybridization studies done on E. coli collected from water samples obtained from two urban Minnesota lakes and one rural South Carolina lake indicated that geese/ducks contributed up to 51% of the fecal bacteria in the urban lake water samples, and the level was below the detection limit in the rural lake water sample. This technique, coupled with the use of other host source-specific gene probes, holds great promise as a new quantitative microbial source tracking tool to rapidly determine the origins of E. coli in waterways and on beaches.
Human influences on water quality in Great Lakes coastal wetlands.
Authors: Morrice JA, Danz NP, Regal RR, Kelly JR, Niemi GJ, Reavie ED, Hollenhorst T, Axler RP,
Trebitz AS, Cotter AM, Peterson GS.
Source: Environmental Management, 2008 Mar;41(3):347-57.
Publisher: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Duluth, MN, 55804, USA
URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18097715?ordinalpos=2&itool=Entrez System2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
ABSTRACT: A better understanding of relationships between human activities and water chemistry is needed to identify and manage sources of anthropogenic stress in Great Lakes coastal wetlands. The objective of the study described in this article was to characterize relationships between water chemistry and multiple classes of human activity (agriculture, population and development, point source pollution, and atmospheric deposition). We also evaluated the influence of geomorphology and biogeographic factors on stressor-water quality relationships. We collected water chemistry data from 98 coastal wetlands distributed along the United States shoreline of the Laurentian Great Lakes and GIS-based stressor data from the associated drainage basin to examine stressor-water quality relationships. The sampling captured broad ranges (1.5-2 orders of magnitude) in total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), total suspended solids (TSS), chlorophyll a (Chl a), and chloride; concentrations were strongly correlated with stressor metrics. Hierarchical partitioning and all-subsets regression analyses were used to evaluate the independent influence of different stressor classes on water quality and to identify best predictive models. Results showed that all categories of stress influenced water quality and that the relative influence of different classes of disturbance varied among water quality parameters. Chloride exhibited the strongest relationships with stressors followed in order by TN, Chl a, TP, TSS, and DIN. In general, coarse scale classification of wetlands by morphology (three wetland classes: riverine, protected, open coastal) and biogeography (two ecoprovinces: Eastern Broadleaf Forest [EBF] and Laurentian Mixed Forest [LMF]) did not improve predictive models. This study provides strong evidence of the link between water chemistry and human stress in Great Lakes coastal wetlands and can be used to inform management efforts to improve water quality in Great Lakes coastal ecosystems.
An overview of policies for managing polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)
in the Great Lakes basin.
Authors: Ward J, Mohapatra SP, Mitchell A.
Source: Environmental International. 2008 Jun 23.
Publisher: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto,
25 Harbord St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 3G5
URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18579207?ordinalpos=3&itool=EntrezSystem2.P Entrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
ABSTRACT: The Great Lakes are an important environmental and economic resource for Canada and the United States. The ecological integrity of the Great Lakes, however, is becoming increasingly threatened by a number of persistent, bio-accumulative and harmful chemicals that enter the Great Lakes ecosystem through fluvial and atmospheric deposition. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), a class of brominated flame retardant, are among such chemicals, whose concentration in the Great Lakes has greatly increased in recent years. Despite growing concern over the possible health and environmental effects of these compounds, only four of the eight Great Lakes states have enacted regulations to ban/restrict the use of PBDE while the two Canadian Great Lakes provinces are yet to endorse any regulation. Of the three main commercial PBDE mixtures (pentaBDE, octaBDE and decaBDE), penta- and octaBDE are no longer manufactured or imported into the United States and Canada. DecaBDE, however, still finds use in a variety of products. In the present paper, the authors review the current regulations and policies for managing PBDEs in the Great Lakes jurisdictions and briefly review commercially available non-bromine chemical alternatives to PBDE. As these alternatives are comparatively more expensive than PBDE, future adoption of more eco-friendly flame retardants by the polymer industry will likely depend on stricter legislation regulating the use of PBDE and/or an increased public demand for PBDE-free products.
Seasonal variation of polychlorinated biphenyl congeners in surficial sediment,
trapped settling material, and suspended particulate material in Lake Michigan, USA.
Authors: Robinson SD, Landrum PF, Van Hoof PL, Eadie BJ.
Source: Environmental Toxicology Chemistry. 2008 Feb;27(2):313-22.
Publisher: Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystem Research, University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18348618?ordinalpos=64&itool=EntrezSystem2.P Entrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
ABSTRACT: A unique time series of surface sediment, trapped settling material, and suspended particulate material polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) samples were collected at a 45-m deep site off Grand Haven (MI, USA) over a 14-month period. Both concentrations and congener distributions remained constant for the sediments, although there were seasonal and interannual variability in the other matrices. Trapped settling material and suspended particulate material PCB concentrations were substantially lower (~50%) in 1997 than in the samples from December 1997 through July 1998. The cause could not be determined from the data collected, but there were some very large storms during the winter-spring period of 1998, resulting in major sediment resuspension throughout the southern basin. Observed seasonal variation in PCB concentration and congener distribution on particles likely was due to the changes in particle composition. These include particle size and the source of particles (such as the amount of resuspended sediment in trapped settling material), and the role of diagenesis of the organic matter on particles.
Sunlight, season, snowmelt, storm, and source affect E. coli populations
in an artificially ponded stream.
Authors: Whitman RL, Przybyla-Kelly K, Shively DA, Nevers MB, Byappanahalli MN.
Source: Science Total Environment. 2008 Feb 15;390(2-3):448-55. Epub 2007 Nov 26.
Publisher: United States Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center, Lake Michigan
Ecological Research Station, Porter, Indiana 46304, USA.
URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18031792?ordinalpos=58&itool=EntrezSystem2.P Entrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
ABSTRACT: Reducing fecal indicator bacteria, such as Escherichia coli (E. coli), in streams is important for many downstream areas. E. coli concentrations within streams may be reduced by intervening ponds or wetlands through a number of physical and biological means. A section of Dunes Creek, a small coastal stream of southern Lake Michigan, was impounded and studied for 30 months from pre-through post-construction of the experimental pond. E. coli reduction became more predictable and effective with pond age. E. coli followed the hydrograph and increased several-fold during both rainfall and snowmelt events. Seasonally, the pond was more effective at reducing E. coli during summer than winter. Late summer, non-solar reduction or inactivation of E. coli in the pond was estimated at 72% and solar inactivation at 26%. E. coli DNA fingerprinting demonstrated that the winter population was genetically more homogeneous than the summer population. Detection of FRNA coliphages suggests that there was fecal contamination during heavy rain events. An understanding of how environmental factors interact with E. coli populations is important for assessing anticipated contaminant loading and the reduction of indicator bacteria in downstream reaches.
Trace level determination of perfluorinated compounds in water by direct injection.
Authors: Furdui VI, Crozier PW, Reiner EJ, Mabury SA.
Source: Chemosphere. 2008 May 3.
Publisher: University of Toronto, Department of Chemistry, 80 St. George Street,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3H6; Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Laboratory Services Branch,
125 Resources Road, Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada M9P 3V6.
URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18457864?ordinalpos=21&itool=EntrezSystem2.P Entrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
ABSTRACT: A new, fast LC-MS/MS method for the determination of perfluorinated surfactants in water samples by direct injection without pre-concentration is reported. The current method requires only 4min to analyze nine perfluoroalkyl compounds in a single analytical run. Standard addition and internal standard quantification were used to determine the level of some perfluorinated carboxylic and sulfonic acids, including perfluorooctanoic sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in Great Lakes water samples. Statistically significant differences were observed between the results obtained using different quantification methods. A relatively small difference between the PFOS values obtained with the standard addition method, with and without peak area normalization, clearly indicates that standard addition is the best quantification method when mass-labeled standards are not available. Based on the paired t-test statistical analysis, the concentrations calculated using external standardization were the least accurate, with the highest mean difference from the standard addition calculated values. Both PFOS and PFOA were present at less than 10ngl(-1) in all Great Lake samples. Higher levels were detected in tributaries of Lake Ontario and effluents from sewage treatment plants.
Water Quality in Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands: Basin-wide Patterns and Responses
to an Anthropogenic Disturbance Gradient
Authors: Anett S. Trebitz1,*, John C. Brazner2, Anne M. Cotter1, Michael L. Knuth1,
John A. Morrice1, Gregory S. Peterson1, Michael E. Sierszen1, Jo A. Thompson1, and John R. Kelly
Source: Journal of Great Lakes Research, pp. 67–85
Publishers: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development,
National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Mid-Continent Ecology Division,
6201 Congdon Boulevard, Duluth, Minnesota 55804
Inland Waters Institute, 29 Powers Drive, Herring Cove, Nova Scotia B3V 1G6
URL: http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&
doi=10.3394%2F0380-1330(2007)33%5B67%3AWQIGLC%5D2.0.CO%3B2&ct=1
ABSTRACT: We present water quality data from 58 coastal wetlands, sampled as part of a larger effort investigating effects of nutrient enrichment and habitat disruption in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Our sampling design selected sites from across a gradient of agricultural intensity within combinations of biogeographic ecoprovince and wetland hydromorphic type and captured a large range in water quality. Levels of total nutrients (N and P), and various measures of particulate concentration, water clarity, and ionic strength were strongly associated with agricultural intensity in the watershed, and could be effectively aggregated into an overall principal component-based water quality descriptor. Lake Erie wetlands had the highest nutrient levels and lowest water clarity, while wetlands in Lakes Superior and Huron had the lowest nutrient levels and clearest water. Lake Ontario wetlands had clearer water than would be expected from their nutrient levels and position on the agricultural intensity gradient. Dissolved oxygen, silica, pH, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were independent of agricultural intensity but DOC was responsible for low water clarity in some Lake Superior wetlands. Simple classification by hydromorphic type (riverine or protected) did not explain water quality differences among wetlands exposed to similar agricultural intensity levels, so finer hydrologic classification may be desirable. Results are used as a basis for discussing research and information needs underlying development of water quality criteria and monitoring programs for coastal wetlands of the Great Lakes.
