effects of rainfall on e. coli concentrations at door county, wisconsin beaches降雨对大肠杆菌浓度的影响在门县,威斯康辛州的海滩.pdfVIP

Hindawi Publishing Corporation International Journal of Microbiology Volume 2009, Article ID 876050, 9 pages doi:10.1155/2009/876050 Research Article Effects of Rainfall on E. coli Concentrations at Door County, Wisconsin Beaches Gregory T. Kleinheinz,1 Colleen M. McDermott,1 Sarah Hughes,1 and Amanda Brown2 1 Department of Biology and Microbiology, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 800 Algoma Boulevard, Oshkosh, WI 54901, USA 2 Door County Soil Water Conservation Department, 421 Nebraska Street, P.O. Box 670, Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235, USA Correspondence should be addressed to Gregory T. Kleinheinz, kleinhei@ Received 6 February 2009; Revised 29 July 2009; Accepted 16 November 2009 Academic Editor: Daniele Daffonchio Copyright © 2009 Gregory T. Kleinheinz et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Rainfall and its associated storm water runoff have been associated with transport of many pollutants into beach water. Fecal material, from a variety of animals (humans, pets, livestock, and wildlife), can wash into beach water following rainfall and result in microbial contamination of the beach. Many locales around the world issue pre-emptive beach closures associated with rainfall. This study looked at eight beaches located in Door County, Wisconsin, on Lake Michigan to determine the impact of rainfall on E. coli concentrations in beach water. Water samples were collected from beach water and storm water discharge pipes during rainfall events of 5 mm in the previous 24 hours. Six of the eight beaches showed a significant association between rainfall and elevated beach water E. coli concentrations. The