Pathogens and nutrients are consistently top polluters of waterbodies in the US according to the USEPA National Water Quality Inventory Reports. Stormwater runoff is a major source of these pollutants, and proper treatment of stormwater, including the use of filtration media, has improved water quality. Microorganisms are an important part of this remediation strategy and previous work has demonstrated that biofilm microorganisms can differ substantially in their remediation potential. To understand the remediation potential of stormwater filtration systems in natural settings, we must understand how the structure of microbial communities in stormwater vary in space and time, how this variation affects the biofilm structure in stormwater filtration systems, and how much biofilm community variation affects remediation. Limited studies have investigated either the variation of the community in stormwater or tested remediation potential using natural communities that are representative of variation from different potential treatment locations. Here we analyzed the natural bacterial community structure variability with 16S rRNA gene sequencing at a variety of runoff locations during both wet and dry events. We inferred potential pathogens and organisms associated with remediation functions (e.g. denitrification) from their sequence classification. We also tested whether contaminant removal (e.g. pathogen and nitrate pollution) was sensitive to inoculum community composition in experimental sand columns. Overall, we found high variability in stormwater related bacterial community structures between rooftop, roadway, and Municipal Separate Storm Sewer outfall baseflow samples, but substantially less variability in potential for contaminant remediation. Inoculation of sand columns by environmental stormwater microbial communities provided significantly better pathogen removal than biofilm-forming isolate P. aeruginosa or non inoculated controls. We have confirmed that complex environmental biofilm presence can improve the removal of contaminants. Differences in bacterial community inoculum taxonomy did not influence significantly variable pathogen removal in environments with similar chemistry. These methods can be applied to other contexts, as the results could be similar for other pathogens of concern, varied chemistry and environmental conditions, and drinking, waste and other water treatment systems.

Quantifying heterogeneity of microbial community structure and the potential to remediate stormwater contaminants under varied biological and chemical conditions

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.