Microbial quality of surface water and subsurface soil after wildfire

Water Research
Renan ValencaSanjay K Mohanty

Abstract

Runoff from wildfire affected areas typically carries high concentrations of fine burned residues or eroded sediment and deposits them in surface water bodies or on subsurface soils. Although the role of wildfire residues in increasing the concentration of chemical contaminants in both environments is known, whether and to what degree wildfire residues may affect microbial contaminants is poorly understood. To examine the effect of wildfire residues on growth and die-off of Escherichia coli (E. coli) -a pathogen indicator, we mixed stormwater with E. coli and suspended particles from the pre- and post-wildfire area in batch reactors and monitored E. coli concentration. E. coli grew initially in the presence of all particles, but the relative E. coli concentration was 10 times lower in the presence of wildfire residues than in natural soil from unaffected areas. Wildfire residues also decreased the persistence of E. coli during a 15-day incubation period. These results indicate that the growth or persistence of E. coli in surface water in the presence of wildfire residues was less than that in the presence of unburned soil particles, potentially due to depletion of nutrient concentration and/or loss of viability of bacteria in t...Continue Reading

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