Recipient Organization
STATE UNIV OF NEW YORK
(N/A)
SYRACUSE,NY 13210
Performing Department
Environmental Biology
Non Technical Summary
Fecal contamination of wells or other sources of drinking water, as indicated by the presence of indicator bacteria such as E. coli, poses a serious health risk to impacted residents. The NY State Department of Health (DOH) routinely analyzes well water samples for E. coli presence; however, their standard testing only determines if fecal contamination is present in a sample and does not identify the source of the contaminant. When well contamination is suspected, timeliness of analysis is important so that DOH can quickly provide guidance to affected people. However, when it is necessary to pursue enforcement related to impacts to water quality standards, it is important for DEC to determine and document whether the fecal contamination is from a human or animal source. MST is an effective approach in determining the nature of the source of the fecal contamination.Drinking water well contamination can occur as a result of a number of different circumstances, including most commonly, contamination by an onsite septic system or contamination as a result of animal manure runoff or leaching. Microbial Source-Tracking (MST) analysis is the method used to determine the source of bacteria. Dr. Green was the sole or collaborative developer of many of the MST methods used world-wide (e.g., HF183, GFD, DG3), and therefore brings unique expertise to all stages of MST analysis and data interpretation.Awarded Start Date: 4/1/2021Sponsor: NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
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Project Methods
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