Identification and Removal of Microbial Contaminants in Headwaters of an Agricultural Watershed

摘要：

　　Water contaminated with microbial pathogens poses a significant threat to the environment and human health worldwide. Clearly the tremendous growth of animal agriculture over the past few decades has contributed to stream degradation in the U.S. However, in some cases, although often being blamed, livestock is not always the source of microbial contamination. Using the Upper Sugar Creek Watershed as a model, we identified that the primary source of microbial contamination was human fecal coliforms (76.2%) instead of animal fecal coliforms. Moreover, the majority (63%) of septic systems are traditional soil adsorption/leach fields instead of mound or sand bioreactor systems that are considered suitable in the watershed area. The main causes of microbial pollution include straight pipes (25%) and failing septic systems (53.8%). Local people lack awareness and knowledge of microbial pollution (over 50%) and septic systems (97%), which are primary barriers of conservation adoption. Scientific support and digital data set can greatly aid local sanitary agencies‘ work.

关键词： Microbial contaminants Headwaters Agricultural watershed

作者: X.Wei R.H.Moore Natsuko Merrick Warren Dick Qiu Sun

作者单位: School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, 2120 Fyffe Rd, Columbus Ohio School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, 2120 Fyffe Rd, Columbus Ohio Integrated Rural Development Center, Guiyang, Guizhou, 550006, China

会议类型: 国际会议

会议名称: The 3rd Biennial ISRS Symposium Achieving Healthy and Viable Rivers (ISRS)第3届国际河流大会

会议地点: 北京

会议语种:英文

页码: 139-149

在线出版日期: 2013-08-05（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）