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Development of Quantitative Microbial Source Tracking Tools for Water Quality Monitoring
Citation:
Shanks, O. Development of Quantitative Microbial Source Tracking Tools for Water Quality Monitoring. EPA Regional Science Council Science Series, Boston, MA, November 27, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
Fecal pollution is the number one biological contaminant in U.S. surface waters with polluted sites in every state. When present, fecal waste can pose a serious public health risk and can lead to severe economic burdens, especially in communities that rely on clean and safe water. Fecal pollution can originate from numerous animal sources such as human, agricultural, and wildlife groups making it challenging for local water quality managers to mitigate and prevent contamination events. In response to this nationwide need, the U.S. EPA ORD maintains an active research program to develop, validate, and implement tools to characterize fecal pollution sources in environmental waters. This presentation will focus on recent EPA ORD fecal source identification method development activities. Research covered in this presentation was conducted under the EPA Research Action Plan (SSWR project 3.02).
Description:
Fecal pollution is the number one biological contaminant in U.S. surface waters with polluted sites in every state. When present, fecal waste can pose a serious public health risk and can lead to severe economic burdens, especially in communities that rely on clean and safe water. Fecal pollution can originate from numerous animal sources such as human, agricultural, and wildlife groups making it challenging for local water quality managers to mitigate and prevent contamination events. In response to this nationwide need, the U.S. EPA ORD maintains an active research program to develop, validate, and implement tools to characterize fecal pollution sources in environmental waters. This presentation will focus on recent EPA ORD fecal source identification method development activities. Research covered in this presentation was conducted under the EPA Research Action Plan (SSWR project 3.02).