{"id":1178,"date":"2013-03-04T16:59:27","date_gmt":"2013-03-04T16:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erc.cals.wisc.edu\/volunteer\/?p=1178"},"modified":"2013-03-04T16:59:27","modified_gmt":"2013-03-04T16:59:27","slug":"bacteria-monitoring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/kstepenu\/2013\/03\/04\/bacteria-monitoring\/","title":{"rendered":"Bacteria Monitoring"},"content":{"rendered":"

Question 1: Does anyone know of an easy to use bacteria sampling protocol that could be used by trained volunteers?<\/a><\/p>\n

Question 2: Is anyone using enterococci as an indicator species for monitoring ambient water?<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

Question 1<\/h3>\n

Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2008 10:58:41 -0400
\nFrom: Gracia O’Neill <\/p>\n

Greetings,<\/p>\n

Does anyone have any recommendations for an easy to use bacteria sampling protocol that could be used by trained volunteers?<\/p>\n

We run an advanced volunteer benthic sampling program in western NC, that partners with a university-run chemical sampling program, which provides date directly to our state water quality agency. Therefore we are looking for an inexpensive and easy to use, yet accurate protocol. We have access to e-coli (not total coliform) incubators, but no other supplies at this time.<\/p>\n

Are there any recommendations on whether to sample for e-coli vs. total coliform?<\/p>\n

THANKS!<\/p>\n

~Gracia<\/p>\n

———————
\nGracia O’Neill
\nAssistant Director
\nClean Water for North Carolina
\n29 1\/2 Page Ave.
\nAsheville, NC 28801
\n(828) 251-1291
\nwww.cwfnc.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Responses to Question 1<\/h3>\n

Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2008 02:24:19 -0700 (PDT)
\nFrom: Kimberly Rinard <\/p>\n

Gracia<\/p>\n

Check out the 9223 Collilert Total Coliform methods. It requires minimum labor\/training regarding staff as you collect your sample in a sterile 125ml bottle then add a packet. Mix the packet in the sample according to directions, then incubate for “x” hours(pretty sure it is 18hrs) The QT method is typically used for “raw” waters such as surface waters(lakes, streams, ponds etc) or untreated drinking water wells(pre chlorination) The QT method will also allow you to get a colony count.<\/p>\n

The 9223_PA method is typically used for chlorinated waters(drinking water) where the only result needed is absence\/presence . The PA method will also allow you to do E Coli on the same sample.<\/p>\n

Any bacteria present in your sample will generate a gas thru a fermentation process as they react\/consume the stuff in the packet that is added to the sample. Total Coliform Results are determined by the presence of a color change. The Collilert method will also allow you to do E Coli on the same sample as, a sample positive for E Coli will change color under UV light.<\/p>\n

I know many town beaches\/state programs require the 1103.1 Beach method for E Coli but I am not familiar with how it is run. The other methods out there are 9222B Membrane Filtration for Total Coliform, and 9222D Fecal Coliform, 9215(E?) Heterotrophic Plate Count<\/p>\n

Pay careful attention to samples that are turbid\/cloudy as this will affect the interpretation of the color change after incubation. Dilutions should be run whenever necessary, especially during times of high runoff, to avoid the “colonies too numerous too count” results.<\/p>\n

Good luck and feel free to write back!<\/p>\n

Kim Rinard
\nGranby, Mass<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2008 08:41:24 -0400
\nFrom: Ann Reid <\/p>\n

Check the Volunteer Monitor issue on bacteria…http:\/\/www.epa.gov\/volunteer\/newsletter\/volmon18no1.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:58:08 -0400
\nFrom: Kirk Barrett <\/p>\n

We use coliscan easygel (see www.micrologylabs.com<\/a> )<\/p>\n

in our program (www.preemo-msu.org<\/a> ).<\/p>\n

They are easy to use. it will give you both e coli and total coliforms.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it\u2019s hard to tell whether to classify a colony<\/p>\n

as purple (e coli) or not. The other problem is that you don\u2019t know exactly how much<\/p>\n

inoculum to use a priori, so you probably should try multiple volumes.<\/p>\n

If you use 3, it comes out to be ~$5\/test.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How are you going to get the samples to the incubators?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Regards,<\/p>\n

Kirk Barrett<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dr. Kirk R. Barrett, PE, PWS, Director, Passaic River Institute<\/p>\n

Montclair State University, 1 Normal Ave. ML 116, Montclair, NJ 07043<\/p>\n

phone: 973-655-7117 email: kirk.barrett@montclair.edu<\/p>\n

web: www.csam.montclair.edu\/pri<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:30:38 -0700
\nFrom: Eleanor Ely<\/p>\n

Hello Gracia,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sorry for the delay in responding; I have been out of town. Hopefully by now you have found the Winter 2006 issue of The Volunteer Monitor, with many articles on bacteria testing. The Summer 2008 issue has a follow-up letter to the editor on one of the methods (MI agar). Both can be found atwww.epa.gov\/owow\/volunteer\/vm_index.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Good luck!<\/p>\n

Ellie<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Eleanor Ely<\/p>\n

Editor, The Volunteer Monitor Newsletter<\/p>\n

50 Benton Avenue<\/p>\n

San Francisco, CA 94112<\/p>\n

415-334-2284<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Date: Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:27:35 -0500
\nFrom: Kris Stepenuck <\/p>\n

Hi Gracia<\/p>\n

We did a three year study in six states in the upper Midwest and came up with a few methods that were particularly volunteer-friendly – some of which have already been mentioned (i.e., Coliscan Easygel), but there’s also 3M Petrifilm.\u00a0 66% of our volunteers liked that method over the Coliscan Easygel because they had a hard time differentiating between blue and teal colonies in the Easygel method.\u00a0 Though, the 3M method isn’t EPA approved for water testing, it did have the statistically strongest relation to state lab methods for assessing E. coli bacteria in streams in our study.<\/p>\n

Here’s a website with our methods manual and other project information:http:\/\/www.usawaterquality.org\/volunteer\/EColi\/index.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Kris Stepenuck
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

Question 2<\/h3>\n

From: Eleanor Ely
\nSent: Tuesday, January 17, 2006 4:24 PM
\nTo: Volunteer water monitoring
\nSubject: [volmonitor] enterococci, anyone?<\/p>\n

Dear friends,<\/p>\n

I would be interested in hearing from anyone who is using enterococci as an indicator species for monitoring ambient water (including recreational waters). What analytical method are you using? Is the analysis done by volunteers, by program staff, or at an outside laboratory?<\/p>\n

Thanks a lot!<\/p>\n

Ellie<\/p>\n

Eleanor Ely
\nEditor, The Volunteer Monitor Newsletter
\n50 Benton Avenue
\nSan Francisco, CA 94112
\n415-334-2284<\/p>\n

Responses to Question 2<\/h3>\n

From: Sumner, Sara [mailto:ssumner@des.state.nh.us]
\nSent: Wednesday, January 18, 2006 5:55 AM
\nSubject: RE: volmonitor digest: January 17, 2006<\/p>\n

Hello Ellie,<\/p>\n

I was forwarded your message by our Volunteer Lake Assessment Program
\nCoordinator.\u00a0 I coordinate New Hampshire’s Beach Inspection Program.
\nCurrently, we use Enterococci as our recreational water standard for
\nmarine waters.\u00a0 We use EPA’s 24 hour Method 1600 for Enterococci.\u00a0 This
\nis also a membrane filtration method.\u00a0 See the link below.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/epa.gov\/waterscience\/methods\/biological\/1600enteoroccus.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

Previously, we employed the 48 hour method.\u00a0 We receive funding from EPA
\nbased on the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Health Act (BEACH)
\nGrants.\u00a0 Due to the funding and quality assurance requirements, we now
\nuse the 24 hour method mentioned above.<\/p>\n

We also have purchased the IDEXX Enterolert equipment.\u00a0 The problem we
\nhave is ordering media and assuring the media will be delivered on time.
\nOur QAPP will soon go back for review so we have the option of using
\nIDEXX when we are waiting for media delivery.\u00a0 Right now, we are not
\nmaking an official switch to the IDEXX method.<\/p>\n

Our standard operating procedure for the analysis of Enterococci
\nincludes the 48 and 24 hour methods, as well as the IDEXX method.\u00a0 The
\nIDEXX Enterolert instruction brochure and MPN chart are referenced in
\nthe SOP.\u00a0 I do not conduct the analyses myself, so I’m not sure if our
\nlaboratory made modifications to the method.\u00a0 We use our in-house state
\nlaboratory for all analyses.\u00a0 They are NELAP certified.\u00a0 We do not use
\nvolunteers for analysis, but do use volunteers for sample collection.<\/p>\n

As I mentioned previously, we receive BEACH Act grant funding.\u00a0 Many
\nstates use Enterococci as indicators for recreational waters.\u00a0 You may
\nwant to contact the Grant Coordinators or Regional Coordinators.\u00a0 See
\nthe link below:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.epa.gov\/waterscience\/beaches\/contact.html<\/a><\/p>\n

I hope this has been helpful.\u00a0 If you have additional questions, please
\nlet me know.<\/p>\n

Thank you,
\nSara<\/p>\n

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
\nSara Sumner
\nBeach Program
\nNew Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
\nWatershed Management Bureau
\n29 Hazen Dr., PO Box 95
\nConcord, NH 03302-0095
\nPhone:\u00a0 603-271-8803
\nFax:\u00a0 603-271-7894
\nssumner@des.state.nh.us
\nSubject: RE: enterococci, anyone?
\nFrom: “URI Watershed Watch”
\nDate: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 17:33:00 -0500
\nX-Message-Number: 2<\/p>\n

We have been running enterococci analyses for a couple of years in the
\nURI Watershed Watch laboratories on volunteer collected samples using
\nStandard Method 9230 C – Membrane filtration for members of the enterococci. This
\nrequires a 48 hour incubation, in comparison to our membrane filtration
\nfor fecal coliform and E. coli, which leads to scheduling and reporting. In
\naddition as many of these samples have also been analyzed for fecal
\ncoliform and E.coli, it has been interesting figuring how to answer the question
\n“is it safe to swim in my lake\/river\/beach?” Often that has depended on
\nwhich indicator you wanted to use – ugh!<\/p>\n

We just purchased an IDEXX sealer and accessories, and are about to
\nembark on the Rhode Island Department of Health preferred method Enterolert
\nmethod, which promises reduced labor along with only a 24 hour incubation, but
\nwill also mean amending our laboratory quality assurance project plan
\n(another ugh!)<\/p>\n

I am very interested in the experiences of others with the IDEXX system
\n– and particularly interested in receiving copies of SOPs for those
\nmethods.<\/p>\n

Thanks, Elizabeth Herron
\nProgram Coordinator
\nURI Watershed Watch
\nPhone: 401-874-4552
\nFax: 401-874-4561
\nWeb: http:\/\/www.uri.edu\/ce\/wq\/<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: Does anyone have any recommendations for an easy to use bacteria sampling protocol that could be used by trained volunteers?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3142,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[288977],"tags":[290858,292732,299717],"class_list":["post-1178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-listserv","tag-290858","tag-bacteria","tag-listserv-2"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"kstepenu","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/kstepenu\/author\/kstepenu\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/kstepenu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/kstepenu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/kstepenu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/kstepenu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/kstepenu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/kstepenu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/kstepenu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/kstepenu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/kstepenu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}