2. E. coli Facts – Beach Monitoring Julie Kinzelman, City of Racine Beach Management Workshop April 14 – 15, 2005, Egg Harbor, WI

3. USEPA BEACH Act of 2000 States having coastal recreational waters must adopt new/revised water quality standards Must use approved indicator organisms – E. coli or enterococci Must use approved testing methods – mTEC or modified mTEC agar, Colilert®, Colisure® Prompt public notification

4. Approved Indicator Organisms E. coli or enterococci

5. What is an Indicator Organism? Found in feces of humans and other animals Act as a warning that human pathogens may be present SURROGATES for pathogenic micro-organisms NOT pathogens Provide no information about source of contamination

6. Why not just test water for pathogens? Too many possibilities Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter, viruses Too slow. Too expensive.

7. What makes a good indicator? Their density in water (without proliferation) gives a reasonable estimate of pathogen presence and can be positively correlated with the potential health risks associated with exposure Their presence is consistently and exclusively associated with the source of the pathogens Their ability to demonstrate similar resistance to environmental stress as the most resistant pathogens present at significant levels Their constant characteristics provide for accurate quantification which can be achieved through simple and inexpensive detection methods Their presence must be harmless to humans and animals Their ability to be detected by laboratory methods in the shortest amount of time consistent with providing accurate results (WHO 1997)

8. E. coli Normal intestinal flora of humans and animals (about 0.1% of humans) Member of the fecal coliform group Fresh water quality standard

9. Advantages/Disadvantages High numbers have been associated with an increased frequency of GI illness in bathers Simple and inexpensive to detect Can get results in less than 24-hours Present in high number in non-human sources such as seagulls If environmental persistence or replication occurs it may lack relevance

10. Sample Collection Racine, WI

11. Surface Water Sampling Fixed monitoring stations Fixed sampling frequency Sampled at same time each day Collected at consistent depth Record ambient conditions

12. GPS LOCATIONS OF MAJOR MONITORING POINTS RACINE, WI SiteLatitudeLongitude Error (± meters) North Beach (N1)N42 o 44' 23.5"W087 o 46' 43.8"5.2 North Beach (N2)N42 o 44' 27.3"W087 o 46' 45.7"4.9 North Beach (N3)N42 o 44' 32.7"W087 o 46' 47.9"4.6 North Beach (N4)N42 o 44' 37.2"W087 o 46' 49.6"4.6 Zoo Beach (Z1)N42 o 44' 48.8"W087 o 46' 51.6"4.0 Zoo Beach (Z2)N42 o 44' 51.2"W087 o 46' 51.9"3.7 Zoo Beach (Z3)N42 o 44' 52.6"W087 o 46' 52.0"4.0 Mouth of Root RiverN42 o 44' 00.3"W087 o 46' 18.4"4.3 English Street Storm Water Outlet (EOF)N42 o 44' 41.2"W087 o 46' 54.1"4.6 Terminal end of infiltration/evaporation beds attached to (and north of EOFN42 o 44' 48.1"W087 o 46' 55.2"4.3 Racine Lighthouse (Wind Point)N42 o 46' 51.9"W087 o 45' 26.4"3.7

13. Racine Sampling Protocol One station every 200m Monitored M – F (more if advisory/closure) Samples collected between 1130 – 1300 Collected at a depth of 3 ft @ 1 ft below surface Record ambient conditions (air/water temp, wave height, wind speed/direction, rainfall, bathers, gulls, algae, and other notables)

14. Testing Protocol Approved Methods (Racine)

15. Membrane Filtration M-TEC or modified m-TEC agar Results available in approximately 24 hours Good technique if you will be using the results for source tracking Requires personnel trained in microbiology Labor intensive Plates can be overcrowded if not diluted properly

16. E. coli using MF/m-TEC agar

17. E. coli colonies on m-TEC

18. Chemical Substrate Tests Colilert, Colilert-18, Colisure Results in as little as 18 hours Would require plating to additional media for source tracking Easy to use Requires little hands on time Can quantify up to 2419.2 MPN/100 ml without diluting Less interference from background organisms

19. E. coli using Colilert-18

20. E. coli Life Cycle Persistence or replication may influence monitoring results

21. Sources of E. coli Storm water discharge Sanitary systems Algae Animal feces

22. E. coli in Sand (Whitman, 2002)

23. Poor Estimation of Health Risk Type I errors occur when an advisory is posted but the level of bacterial indicator organisms do not exceed recommended standards or guidelines Type II errors occur when no advisory is posted in the presence of elevated bacterial indicator levels

24. Racine Data 2002 - 2004 NUMBER OF TYPE I AND TYPE II ERRORS COMMITTED ANNUALLY YEARType I errorsType II errors% Error 2002150*31 2003190*33 2004110*29

25. What’s on the Horizon? Alternative indicators Real-time testing technology New epidemiological studies (USEPA) Pathogen studies Research designed to determine replication/persistence and host source of bacterial indicators

26. Acknowledgements WI DNR Richard Whitman, USGS UWM Great Lakes Water Institute S.C. Johnson, A Family Company City of Racine Health Department University of Surrey, RCPEH