Tawas City, MI, is a popular area for water-based recreational activities. The Tawas River flows through the city and into the Saginaw Bay at a beach frequented by many people. Microbial contamination has been detected in the Tawas River and other sites within the Saginaw Bay Watershed, with high levels of Escherichia coli indicating unsafe conditions for fishing and other recreational activities. Water samples from the river and a nearby Arenac County beach were collected over the course of eleven weeks, and the E. coli levels were quantified and compared using the EPA-approved Colilert and a new rapid quantitative PCR (qPCR) method. The Pearson correlation coefficient for the comparison of the two was 0.592. Of the 33 total samples, fourteen were above the minimal allowable level of 300 CFU/100mL as determined by Colilert. Further analysis is underway to perfect the rapid method as well as determine the source(s) of contamination.

Quantifying Escherichia coli in recreational freshwater of the Saginaw Bay Watershed using Colilert and quantitative PCR

249th National Meeting (2015)

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