Using Enterococcus Bacteria as an Indicator to Determine the Level of Fecal Bacteria in Arroyo Burro Creek

Overview

Objectives/Goals The object of this experiment was to examine the levels of fecal bacteria in Arroyo Burro Creek using Enterococcus bacteria as the indicator. Theoretically, the water should have the least bacteria upstream before rainfall while the most bacteria should be found downstream during rainfall. Methods/Materials I performed my testing at El Estero Water Treatment Plant using Enterolert products. I diluted my creek water samples with 95 mL. of sterile water and added the Enterolert powder to make the bacteria glow with phosphorescence. That liquid was sealed and incubated for 25 hours and then placed under a UV light to show the most probable number of bacteria per 100 mL. of water. Results After doing thorough testing of the creek water before, during and after rainfall at three locations up and down the creek, I found that the water at the top of the creek before rainfall had the least bacteria while the water downstream during rainfall had the most. Conclusions/Discussion After my testing, I determined that my hypothesis was correct. The water at the top of the creek before rainfall had 9465 MPN per 100 mL. more than the water downstream during rainfall. This was because with the large rainstorms we have had this year; most of the animal feces have been washed from the hillside into the watershed. The water was more contaminated during the rainfall than after the rainfall because the contaminants had not yet flushed out.

Competition history

• CSEF 2010 Environmental Science (Junior Division Only) · Entry J1206

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

• All Environmental Analysis projects
• CSEF Environmental Analysis projects
• Every CSEF 2010 project