New Wilmington Streams:Tainted Water

or Tainted Thinking?

A Presentation by Westminster College’s

Limnology Class

A Preliminary Assessment:

Health in Aquatic Ecosystems

New Wilmington, Pennsylvania

From Webster's Dictionary:

Taint — to touch or affect slightly with something bad

And the potential sources of contamination

for our lakes and streams

Goals of our study

• Are Brittain Lake and Little Neshannock as polluted as some think?

• Is there contamination from the sewage treatment plant, livestock, and housing development?

What makes a healthy ecosystem?

• Healthy for humans

• We might wonder if humans are at risk due to the contamination

• Healthy for organisms

• Good conditions for one may be bad for another

All we can do is monitor the impact of human

activity

Assessing the health of an ecosystem

• Monitoring the chemical content

• Measuring biological parameters

But there are still differences in opinion . . .

How vulnerable is an area to contamination?

What should the guidelines be?

How much is permissible? or

Is NO contamination permissible?

We can monitor specific sites

May provide a warning of potential problems and the impact of outside sources.

Brittain Lake

Brittain Lake

McClure’s Run

McClure’s Run

LittleNeshannock CreekBefore Livestock

Route 208 Bridge

Before McClure’s Run

Confluence of McClure’s Run and Little Neshannock

Creek

BeforeSewage Pipe

Sewage Treatment Facility

After Sewage Pipe

CottageGrove

Water Sampling

pH

• Acidity of streams– decomposition– nutrient binding

Dissolved Oxygen

• Concentration not uniform– temperature– photosynthesis– respiration

• Affects organisms

Phosphate• Most limiting nutrient in fresh

water• Not toxic to humans or animals• Cycles• Sources and inputs

– erosion– waste water– storm water– runoff – feces

• EPA limits

Nitrate• Not found in influent • Found in effluent • Sources

– atmosphere– runoff– waste water– agricultural fertilizers

• Toxic to fetuses, infants and small children

• Public Health Systems limits

Methods

• pH, dissolved oxygen - meters

• phosphate and nitrate -spectrophotometer

Phosphate Analysis

Phosphate Analysis

Nitrate Analysis

Results• pH

• Dissolved oxygen

• Phosphate

• Nitrate

Average pH

7

7.5

8

8.5

9

9.5

Brittain Lake McClure's Run Before Livestock 208 Bridge BeforeMcClure's Run

Before SewagePipe

After SewagePipe

Cottage Grove

Ave

rage

pH

Poor

Fair

Good

Excellent

Average Dissolved Oxygen

0.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

14.00

16.00

BrittainLake

McClure'sRun

BeforeLivestock

208 Bridge BeforeMcClure's

Run

BeforeSew age

Pipe

AfterSew age

Pipe

CottageGrove

Aver

age

DO (m

g/L)

Good

Excellent

Correlation of Nitrate and PhosphateR2 = 0.6986

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

0.000 0.500 1.000 1.500 2.000 2.500 3.000 3.500 4.000 4.500 5.000

Phosphate (ppm)

Nitr

ate

(pp

m)

Amount of Phosphate per Day

0.000

0.500

1.000

1.500

2.000

2.500

3.000

3.500

4.000

4.500

5.000

9/15/98 9/22/98 9/29/98 10/6/98 10/13/98 10/20/98 10/27/98 11/3/98 11/10/98

Day

Pho

spha

te (p

pm)

Brittain Lake

McClure's Run

Cottage Grove

After Sewage Pipe

Before Sewage Pipe

Before McClure's Run

208 Bridge

Before Livestock

Phosphate Concentrations

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40

1.60

BrittainLake

McClure'sRun

BeforeLivestock

208 Bridge BeforeMcClure's

BeforeSewage

Pipe

AfterSewage

Pipe

CottageGrove

Pho

spha

te (p

pm)

Good

Excellent

Amount of Nitrate per Day

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

Day

Nitr

ate

(pp

m)

Brittain Lake

McClure's Run

Cottage Grove

After the Sewage Pipe

Before the Sewage Pipe

Before McClure's Run

208 Bridge

Before Livestock

Nitrate Concentrations

0.000

5.000

10.000

15.000

20.000

25.000

30.000

Brittain Lake McClure's Run Before Livestock 208 Bridge Before McClure's Before SewagePipe

After SewagePipe

Cottage Grove

Nitr

ate

(ppm

)

Excellent

Good

Fair

Poor

Conclusions

Site pH Dissolved Oxygen Phosphate NitrateBrittain Lake poor good excellent excellent

Conclusions

Site pH Dissolved Oxygen Phosphate NitrateMcClure's Run fair good excellent goodBefore Livestock good excellent excellent good208 Bridge fair excellent excellent goodBefore McClure's fair good excellent goodBefore Sewage Pipe good excellent excellent goodAfter Sewage Pipe good excellent good poorCottage Grove fair excellent excellent poor

Microbiological Monitoring

• Uses microorganisms to assess the quality of water

• Coliform bacteria used as indicator organisms of bacterial pathogens

• Two types of coliforms:– total coliforms– fecal coliforms

EPA Standards

Total coliforms are the standard for which potable and recreational water guidelines are based– 1 coliform/100mL permissible in

drinking water– 1000 coliforms/100mL permissible in

recreational water

• Fecal coliforms indicate fecal contamination and possible bacterial pathogens

• Fecal coliforms/Fecal streptococci ratio gives indication of the origin of fecal contamination

Methods

• Sterilize• Collect

• Membrane Filter Technique

KF Agar M-Endo Broth M-FC Broth

Fecal Streptococci Total Coliforms Fecal Coliforms

Results

• Total Coliforms• Fecal Coliforms• Fecal Streptococci• FC / FS Ratio

Total Coliform Bacteria

• All sites are NOT suitable for drinking (more than one coliform per 100 ml)

• Only Lake Brittain within

Recreational Limit (under 1000 coliforms per 100 ml)

Total Coliforms

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

BrittainLake

McClure'sRun

BeforeLivestock

208 Bridge BeforeMcClure's

Run

BeforeSewage

Pipe

AfterSewage

Pipe

CottageGrove

Ave

rag

e #

pe

r 10

0 m

l

Recreational limit

Testing 9/24

Site TCBrittain Lake 30

McClure's Run 1220Above Livestock 580

208 Bridge 7550Above McClure's Run 440

Above Pipe 400Below Pipe 850

Cottage Grove 2900

Fecal Coliform Bacteria

• All sites show contamination– possible presence of bacteria

pathogens

• Below the sewage treatment pipe extremely high on one test day– water cloudy, dark, and smelled

Fecal Coliforms

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

Brittain Lake McClure'sRun

BeforeLivestock

208 Bridge BeforeMcClure's

Run

BeforeSewage

Pipe

AfterSewage

Pipe

CottageGrove

Ave

rag

e #

per

100

ml

Fecal Streptococci

• Numbers are less than FC• All sites indicate fecal

contamination at some time– Possible presence of bacteria

pathogens

• Below the sewage treatment plants was the highest

• Brittain Lake was the lowest

Fecal Streptococci

0.0

100.0

200.0

300.0

400.0

500.0

600.0

700.0

800.0

900.0

Brittain Lake McClure'sRun

BeforeLivestock

208 Bridge BeforeMcClure's

Run

BeforeSewagePipe

After SewagePipe

CottageGrove

Av

era

ge

# p

er

100m

l

FC/FS Ratio

• Ratio > 4 indicates possible human fecal contamination

• Ratio < 0.7 indicates animal origin• Below the sewage treatment pipe

the highest• McClure’s Run was also high• Ratios fluctuate daily

Ratio Fecal Coliform/Fecal Streptococci

0

5

10

15

20

25

BrittainLake

McClure'sRun

BeforeLivestock

208Bridge

BeforeMcClure's

Run

BeforeSewage

Pipe

AfterSewage

Pipe

CottageGrove

Ratio

Human waste origin

Testing 9/24

Site FC/FSBrittain Lake 2.50

McClure's Run 0.83Cottage Grove 4.32

After STP 122.46Before STP 4.95

Before McClure's Run 2.16Rt. 208 Bridge 6.23

Before Livestock 1.17

Biological Monitoring

The use of organisms to assess or monitor

environmental conditions

Macroinvertebrates for Biomonitoring

• Accurate indicators of polluted ecosystems

• Often inhabit bottom sediments• Very diverse organisms- reflect

changes in biodiversity• Insects, mollusks, crustaceans, and

worms

Macroinvertebrates for Biomonitoring

• Large distribution area• Variety of habitat• Primary food source• Long-lived• Easy to collect and identify

Methods• Surber sampling• Five samples per site• Approximately ten centimeters

taken in each sample• Stored in alcohol and rose bengal

(preserve and stain organisms)

Sieving Samples

Sorting Samples

Identification of Macroinvertebrates

Biological Indices• HBI (Hilsenhoff’s Biotic Index)

– uses tolerance values to indicate level of pollution

• Tolerance – 0-10 scale; 0 = intolerant, 10 =

tolerant

Modified Hilsenhoff Biotic Index

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

BrittainLake

McClure'sRun

BeforeLivestock

208 Bridge BeforeMcClure's

Run

BeforeSewage

Pipe

AfterSewage

Pipe

CottageGrove

8.0

- H

BI

Moderate Impact

Slight Impact

Biological Indices

• Percent Model Affinity (PMA)- – compares non-impacted community

of seven major types of organisms with the community being studied

Percent Model Affinity

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

BrittainLake

McClure'sRun

BeforeLivestock

208 Bridge BeforeMcClure's

Run

BeforeSewage

Pipe

AfterSewage

Pipe

CottageGrove

PM

A

Severe Impact

Moderate Impact

Slight Impact

Biological Indices

• EPT- measures number of Ephemeroptera (mayflies), Plecoptera (stoneflies), and Trichoptera (caddisflies) to determine water quality

• Mostly clean-water organisms = presence generally correlated with good water quality

EPT Organisms

Ephemeroptera Plecoptera Trichoptera

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

BrittainLake

McClure'sRun

BeforeLivestock

208 Bridge BeforeMcClure's

Run

BeforeSewage

Pipe

AfterSewage

Pipe

CottageGrove

EP

T

Fair

Good

Biological Indices

• Family Diversity- combines family richness with the community balance or evenness to determine condition of the community

• High Family Diversity = healthy, diverse communities

Family Diversity

0.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

0.50

0.60

0.70

0.80

0.90

BrittainLake

McClure'sRun

BeforeLivestock

208 Bridge BeforeMcClure's

Run

BeforeSewage

Pipe

AfterSewage

Pipe

CottageGrove

Div

ers

ity

Results-Macroinvertebrates

Brittain Lake • Lowest values of all sites, as expected

Effect of Livestock

• Data inconclusive

Effect of Sewage Pipe • Higher values below sewage pipe

indicates better environment for macroinvertebrates

Chironomids

• Non-biting midge fly

• 1/2 inch • Detritivores

Morphological Testing

• Deformities in mouthparts• Effect of chemical contaminants• Early indicator

Mounting

• Head Capsule

Mounting

• CMCP 9/9AF Medium

Chironomid Deformities

Normal

Chironomid Deformities

Class I• Slight

abnormalities

Chironomid Deformities

Class II• Extra teeth• Missing teeth• Fused teeth• Loss of

symmetry

Chironomid Deformities

Class III• Severe

abnormalities

Percent Deformity

• Number of chironomids with deformed teeth divided by the total number of chironomids that were sampled

Chironomid:Percent Deformity

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

BrittainLake

McClure'sRun

BeforeLivestock

208 Bridge BeforeMcClure's

Run

BeforeSewage

Pipe

AfterSewage

Pipe

CottageGrove

Perc

ent D

efor

mity

Clean Water

Fair

Poor

Toxic Score

• Different Deformities

Chironomid: Toxic Score

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

BrittainLake

McClure'sRun

BeforeLivestock

208 Bridge BeforeMcClure's

Run

BeforeSewage

Pipe

AfterSewage

Pipe

CottageGrove

Toxi

c Sc

ore

Clean Water

Fair

Conclusions: Lake Brittain

• Healthiest for humans• Good nutrient level: Nitrate, Phosphate• High dissolved oxygen level• Low chemical toxicity• Less suitable for macroinvertebrates

Sewage Treatment Plant Pipe

• Definite effect at this site• High coliform count

– bad for humans

• High nutrient level – good for organisms

Livestock

• More human fecal contamination • Inconclusive for organisms

Farm / Housing

• Increased levels of phosphate and nitrate

• Indicates high non-natural chemical levels– Agriculture

• More human fecal contamination

Further Studies

• More sites• More research into geographical

area• Greater diversity of organisms• Sediment testing• Heavy metals• Pesticides and herbicides

Acknowledgements• Ann Throckmorton, Ph.D.• Joe Balczon, Ph.D. • Suzanne Butch - Consumer’s Water Company• Population Ecology Class• Microbial Diversity Class • Fred Garret - New Wilmington Sewage

Treatment Facility • Borough of New Wilmington• US EPA• PA DEP