Record Details
The fate of specific organisms in a receiving stream
ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | The fate of specific organisms in a receiving stream |
| Names |
Henshaw, Thomas Lamond
(creator) Phillips, Don C. (advisor) |
| Date Issued | 1963-05-01 (iso8601) |
| Note | Graduation date: 1963 |
| Abstract | One of the major items in any program of municipal sanitation is the double problem of water supply and waste water disposal. Since streams are the general source of water supply and also the final receptacle for sewage, this dual use of the stream often leads to complications. Sewage and water treatment are considered man-made lines of defense against the passage of bacterial pollution. Bacterial self-purification can be considered a natural barrier. This thesis presents a study of the die-off of certain specific organisms in a stream receiving treated sewage. The study was accomplished by drawing samples of the receiving stream at specified sampling stations and determining the density of the organisms Escherichia-coli and fecal streptococci, and the total number of viable cells present in the sample. All bacterial counts were made using the membrane filter technique except for the total counts, which were obtained using the standard pour -plate method. Curves showing bacterial pollution versus river miles were obtained relating the die-off of the bacteria to miles below the sewer outfall. Conclusions reached from this study were: (1) Both the Escherichia-coli or fecal streptococci counts yielded a good index of stream pollution, however, the E-coli colonies proved to be the easier of the two to count. (2) The membrane filter technique offered reliability and ease in counting for large numbers of samples. (3) Increased temperature caused increased bacterial die off in incubated samples of river water. (4) For both 10 °C and 20 °C temperatures, the E-coli were noted to die off more rapidly than the fecal streptococci. (5) In Mary's River, during the winter months, 64 percent of the E-coli died-off in a distance of five and a half miles. Within the same distance, 71 percent of the fecal streptococci died-off. |
| Genre | Thesis/Dissertation |
| Topic | Water -- Pollution |
| Identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/1957/48802 |
