Download Where are Fecal Matter Concentrations the Highest along

Where are Fecal Matter
Concentrations the Highest
along Emigration Creek?
By Jessika Hilton, Chad
Rinderknecht, Sarah Wong and
Jeanette Moses
Introduction
• Where along Emigration Creek are
concentrations of fecal matter the
highest?
– Emigration Creek is polluted with a number
of non-point sources.
– Samples from three different sites along
the creek: Ruth’s Diner, Hogle Zoo and
Westminster College
Hypothesis
• Fecal matter concentrations would be
the highest near Ruth’s Diner because
of the leaking septic systems of older
homes in that area.
– In 1996 Salt Lake County noted “the City
has refused sewer line access because
Emigration Canyon is not within city
boundaries.”
Methods
• Set of three water samples taken from
three locations on three different days
– Ruth’s Diner, Hogle Zoo and Westminster
– 11/6, 11/13 and 11/18
– Place 1mL of sample water on grow plates
Planned to plate our water samples on grow
plates that would only grow gram negative
bacteria. However, there was a problem.
• First data set was plated on manitol
salt––which is only capable of growing
gram positive bacteria.
• Our next two sets of samples were
plated on triptic soy broth, which has the
ability to grown gram positive and gram
negative bacteria.
• After all of our samples were collected,
plated and observed we compared the
number of cultures grown on our first
set to the number of cultures grown on
our second and third set.
Data
Results
• Increase in the amount of bacteria
cultures grown at Ruth’s Diner and Zoo
in samples two and three.
• Westminster’s bacteria cultures stayed
relatively the same throughout all three
sample sets.
Conclusions
• Amount of gram negative bacteria is
higher by Ruth’s and the Zoo then by
Westminster.
• Amount of gram positive bacteria is
found in higher concentrations by
Westminster.
Conclusions
• Data is not sufficient to indicate whether fecal
matter concentrations are indeed higher near
Ruth’s Diner.
– Seems to indicate that there is a higher
abundance of gram negative bacteria by Ruth’s
Diner and Hogle Zoo then by Westminster. We
can’t assume that these high levels of gram
negative bacteria were E-coli.
Further Studies
• Determine if the higher concentrations
of gram negative bacteria by Ruth’s and
the Zoo are from fecal matter.
• Test water samples on grow plates that
only grow E-coli cultures.