Journal
WATER RESEARCH
Volume 47, Issue 7, Pages 2315-2324Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2013.02.009
Keywords
Agriculture; Water quality; Microbial source tracking
Funding
- AAFC's National Water Quality Surveillance Research Initiative (NWQSRI)
- Health Canada, through the Sustainable Agriculture Environmental Systems (SAGES) program
- Watershed Evaluation of Beneficial Management Practice (WEBs) program
- Alberta Water Research Institute
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Over a seven-year period (2004-2010) 1095 water samples were obtained from the South Nation River basin at multiple watershed monitoring sites (Ontario, Canada). Real-time PCR using Bacteroidales specific markers was used to identify the origin (human (10% prevalence), ruminant (22%), pig (similar to 2%), Canada goose (4%) and muskrat (7%)) of fecal pollution. In parallel, the distribution of fecal indicator bacteria and waterborne pathogens (Cryptosporidium oocysts, Giardia cysts, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella enterica and Campylobacter spp.) was evaluated. Associations between the detection of specific Bacteroidales markers and the presence of fecal indicator bacteria, pathogens, and distinct land use or environmental variables were evaluated. Linear correlations between Bacteroidales markers and fecal indicator bacteria were weak. However, mean marker densities, and the presence and absence of markers could be discriminated on the basis of threshold fecal indicator densities. The ruminant-specific Bacteroidales marker was the most frequently detected marker in water, consistent with the large number of dairy farms in the study area. Detection of the human or the ruminant markers were associated with a slightly higher risk of detecting S. enterica. Detection of the muskrat marker was related to more frequent Campylobacter spp. detections. Important positive associations between markers and pathogens were found among: i) total Bacteroidales and Cryptosporidium and Giardia, ii) ruminant marker and S. enterica, and muskrat and Campylobacter spp. Crown Copyright (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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