A geographical approach to tracking Escherichia coli and other water quality constituents in a Texas coastal plains watershed

Diffuse sources of surface water pathogens and nutrients can be difficult to isolate in larger river basins. This study used a geographical or nested approach to isolate diffuse sources of Escherichia coli and other water quality constituents in a 145.7-km 2 river basin in south central Texas, USA....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental monitoring and assessment 2013-06, Vol.185 (6), p.4659-4678
Main Authors: Harclerode, C. L., Gentry, T. J., Aitkenhead-Peterson, J. A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alkalinity
Analysis
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Applied ecology
Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
Bacteria
Biological and medical sciences
Cities
Coastal plains
Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife
Creeks & streams
E coli
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecology
Ecotoxicology
Environment
Environmental Management
Environmental monitoring
Environmental Monitoring - methods
Escherichia coli
Escherichia coli - growth & development
Escherichia coli - isolation & purification
Feces
Freshwater
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Land use
Monitoring/Environmental Analysis
Nitrates
Nitrogen
Nutrient concentrations
Organic nitrogen
Pathogens
Precipitation
River basins
Rivers
Rivers - chemistry
Rivers - microbiology
Stream discharge
Stream flow
Studies
Surface water
Texas
Urban areas
Wastewater treatment plants
Water Microbiology
Water Pollutants - analysis
Water Pollution - statistics & numerical data
Water quality
Water Quality - standards
Water treatment
Water treatment plants
Watersheds
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Summary:Diffuse sources of surface water pathogens and nutrients can be difficult to isolate in larger river basins. This study used a geographical or nested approach to isolate diffuse sources of Escherichia coli and other water quality constituents in a 145.7-km 2 river basin in south central Texas, USA. Average numbers of E. coli ranged from 49 to 64,000 colony forming units (CFU) per 100 mL depending upon season and stream flow over the 1-year sampling period. Nitrate-N concentrations ranged from 48 to 14,041 μg L −1 and orthophosphate-P from 27 to 2,721 μg L −1 . High concentrations of nitrate-N, dissolved organic nitrogen, and orthophosphate-P were observed downstream of waste water treatment plants but E. coli values were higher in a watershed draining an older part of the city. Total urban land use explained between 56 and 72 % of the variance in mean annual E. coli values ( p  
ISSN:0167-6369
1573-2959
DOI:10.1007/s10661-012-2895-3