T44 Student-Involved Research Experience in Earth-System Science: An Effective Tool for Recruitment and Retention in the Geosciences (Posters)

Sunday, 9 October 2011
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Hall C

OCCURRENCE OF FECAL INDICATIVE BACTERIA (FIB) IN LAKES AND PONDS OF QUEENS COUNTY, NEW YORK CITY, USA

Paper number: T44-20
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Authors

  • Lisa Maldonado
    Forest Hills High School, Queens, NY
  • Momana Parvin
    HS for Health Professions and Human Services, New York, NY
  • Sutapa Dhar
    York College of City University of New York, Long Island City, NY
  • Stephanie Anciro
    Queens High School for the Sciences at York College, Jamaica, NY
  • Andrew Singh
    York College of City University of New York, Jamaica, NY
  • Atiqa Tirmizi
    York College of City University of New York, Jamaica, NY
  • Ratan Dhar Presenting Author
    York College of CUNY Earth and Physical Sciences, Jamaica, NY

Abstract

Ingestion of water with fecal microbes such as Escherichia Coli, Coliforms, and/or Enterococci can lead to gastric problems that can complicate easily and lead to death (Stahl, 2011; McCoy, 2010). Water and soil samples were collected from seven New York City ponds and lakes in Queens to test for microbial levels of fecal indicative bacteria (FIB) including total coliforms, fecal coliforms, Escherichia Coli and Enterococci. Increased use of these ponds and lakes for recreation, and lack of maintenance has led to the accretion of waste around the areas adjacent to and in these bodies of water. The urbanization of the areas encompassing the bodies of water pertaining to this study is likely to have adverse effects on the quality of the water and the soil with respect to FIB. The water bodies investigated in this study are surrounded by roads, homes, apartments, highways. These can lead to excess nutrients loading in the water and the soil around it; allowing fecal microorganisms to flourish in the water systems (DeFabio et al., 2011). Several of these lakes were littered with trash and objects not natural to the area such as plastics along with numerous decaying animals in and around the water. The water and the soil samples collected from the lakes and ponds in Queens were enumerated for FIB using EPA approved IDEXX methods. FIB were also extracted from the freshly collected soil cores in sterilized distilled water in order to assess the soil for fecal indicative bacteria using the IDEXX method.

The preliminary data shows that there is a correlation between increased urbanization and the most probable number (MPN) of bacteria / 100 mL of water. Areas with significant signs of urbanization, such as Meadow Lake, has significantly high levels of FIB, all of these are well beyond the standard microbe level set by the EPA. Of particularly great concern is the level of Enterococci and total Coliform that greatly exceed the level the EPA has claimed is acceptable. The average level found in Meadow Lake is found 2864 counts/100 ml, 74 counts /100 ml, 133 counts/100 ml and >200 counts/100 ml for total coliforms, fecal coliforms, E. coli and Enterococci respectively. The area around Baisley Pond is also very urbanized, having very high counts for total Coliforms, E. coli and Enterococci in the soil closest to the water in comparison to the other lakes and ponds.