Water QUESt :: Water Quality in Urban Environmental Systems

Community monitoring programs exist in many states. Few volunteer monitoring programs include bacterial testing as an indicator of water quality because standard methods for bacterial evaluation are complicated and require specialized equipment and expertise.

The most common methods for the detection of E. coli is membrane filtration on growth media which prohibits growth of gram positive bacteria.

Other methods that are comercially available involve the detection of the enzyme produced by E. coli. B-glucuronidase. This enzyme is detected by either chromogens or fluorogens. Chromogens are media that produce colored colonies and fluorogens are media that produce fluorescent colonies.

Working with undergraduate students, we are evaluating Colilert/Quantitray, ColiGel and ColiQuant EZ, and the EPA Method 1603: Escherichia coli (E.coli) in Water by Membrane Filtration Using Modifiedmembrane-Thermotolerant Escherichia coli Agar (Modified mTEC).

We are using these kits in a targeted project in Panther Hollow Lake in Pittsburgh, PA. We are evaluating the methods and the suitability of volunteer monitors to collect these data.

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Citizen Bacterial Monitoring
Citizen Bacterial Monitoring Panther Hollow Lake Project Pine Creek Watershed Project River Quest Collaboration Green Roof Project Ohio River Basin Project	Community monitoring programs exist in many states. Few volunteer monitoring programs include bacterial testing as an indicator of water quality because standard methods for bacterial evaluation are complicated and require specialized equipment and expertise. The most common methods for the detection of E. coli is membrane filtration on growth media which prohibits growth of gram positive bacteria. Other methods that are comercially available involve the detection of the enzyme produced by E. coli. B-glucuronidase. This enzyme is detected by either chromogens or fluorogens. Chromogens are media that produce colored colonies and fluorogens are media that produce fluorescent colonies. Working with undergraduate students, we are evaluating Colilert/Quantitray, ColiGel and ColiQuant EZ, and the EPA Method 1603: Escherichia coli (E.coli) in Water by Membrane Filtration Using Modifiedmembrane-Thermotolerant Escherichia coli Agar (Modified mTEC). We are using these kits in a targeted project in Panther Hollow Lake in Pittsburgh, PA. We are evaluating the methods and the suitability of volunteer monitors to collect these data.

Water QUEST is a multi-disciplinary center housed in the Carnegie Institute of Technology at Carnegie Mellon University with participating faculty from four colleges and eight departments.