Stephanie,+Randi,+and+Nikki

   =__//Welcome to Our Watershed Page//__!!!! =

This is Randi, Nikki, and Stephanie and we want to welcome you to our page on **//__coliform bacteria__//**!

**What** //is// __coliform bacteria__ you may wonder?? Well, coliform bacteria is a collection of pretty harmless microorgnisms that can be found in large numbers in the intestines of warm and cold blooded animals (as well as humans).    <span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(238,231,231)"><span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(243,232,232)"> <span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(0,203,255)"><span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(211,0,255)"><span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(241,228,228)">//**Their purpose**//? The purpose of these bacteria is to help in the digestion of food. The most common type that you may have heard of is **E. coli.** <span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(241,228,228)"> <span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)">**//What//** is the environmental impact? **//Why//** are we studying this?? Well due to some research we have done we found that the presence of fecal coliform bacteria in aquatic environments will tell if the water has been contaminated with fecal matter from either humans or animals. Once it has been indcated that there is a presence of the fecal matter in the water it poses a potential health risk for people or animals drinking this water. Fecal coliform bacteria can be present in water <span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)">due       <span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,151,0)"><span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)">to overflow of sewage or human/animal waste.<span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"> <span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,151,0)"><span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,143,0)"><span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)">If coliform is present in water, the water may contain organisms that can cause many different diseases. These "disease -causing organisms" are called pathogens. Pathogens can be viruses, protozoa or bacteria. There are also waterborne pathogens which cause diseases such as hepatitis, giardiasis, and dysentery. Testing water for these specific organisms is time consuming, expensive, and most laboratories are not equipped and approved to do it. Coliform bacteria are used as water quality indicators. "Coliforms may be associated with the sources of pathogens contaminating water and the analysis of drinking water for coliforms is relatively simple, economical and efficient." Therefore testing for coliform bacteria in water is a more efficient and successful way to find the pathogens in the water. There are three different types of coliform bacteria these are: total coliform; which is a large collection of different bacteria, fecal coliform; which are types of total cliform that exist in feces, and //E. coli//; which is a sub-group of fecal coliform//.// Total coliform is enviromental contamination and fecal coliform as well as //E.// coli are fecal contamination. All three types are able to be indicators of water quality. When water is tested, first total coliform is checked for presence and then if it turns out to be there depending on the circumstances either fecal coliform or //E. coli//.

**Our findings**
When going to Flatrock Brook for the first time we didn't see a lot of wildlife or animals around. We later realized that this was because it was fall. During the fall there were less animals and therefore less coliform bacteria to be tested. We did not see any birds or fish what we saw mostly was mud and insects. Once we tested our coliform samples we found that they weren't strong and died about 48 hours after being put in the incubator.

Once we went in the Spring, for the first time, it was completely different. We saw that Flatrock Brook was abundant with life. We saw geese, fish, birds, and turtles. Upon seeing so much life we became instantly concerned about the levels of coliform bacteria in the water. We wanted to test as many times as we could in the little time we had left. So, we hiked through the red trail and visited three water sites and collected data. Once we got back to the lab we tested our data and found that these coliform lasted longer than the ones from the Fall.

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,151,0)"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,151,0)"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,151,0)"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,151,0)"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,151,0)"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,151,0)"> samples of water. One of the samples was from the creek directly off of Jones Road, another from McFadden’s pond, and the last was from the playground area.**
 * <span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,165,0)">Materials: **
 * - Coliform Bacteria Kit**
 * - Test Tubes**
 * - Incubator**
 * - Petri dish**
 * <span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,165,0)">Methods: **
 * - For two different seasons (fall and spring), our group traveled to Flat Rock Brook and collected three different

room for further investigation.**
 * - Each time we gathered the water samples into three different test tubes and brought them back to our science

few drops of the pond water onto the bacteria kit.**
 * - After letting the data sit in the refrigerator for the weekend, we performed our Coliform experiment by placing a


 * - Our next step was placing the kit (with the pond water sample) into an incubator where it would sit for 24 hours.**

(as shown below).** <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,151,0)"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,151,0)">
 * - After 24 hours has passed, we exa** **mine our kit and see how many Coliform colonies have formed and are easily visible
 * - Once we have repeated the above steps with our data from the second season, we will compare and discover the difference in Coliform bacteria in these two different seasons.**

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,151,0)"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,151,0)"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,151,0)">

=**DATA/RESULTS**=

The sample labeled 1 is from the creek right near Jones Road, 2 is from the playground area, and 3 is from Mcfaddens pond.





<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,151,0)">





Analysis
If we were able to continue our research we would expand it to other bodies of water in the area. Small ponds or lakes in the area where there is a lot of life and people go to spend time we would test all of those to see whether or not the water is polluted with coliform bacteria. This search could even further enable us to think of ways to clean up the contaminated waters in order to keep these places even cleaner. Thank you so much for visiting our Watershed Page we hope you enjoyed it and will join us in our quest to continue keeping our water clean! We hope you learned something about coliform bacteria as well!

=Our Conclusion= After this year long project of researching coliform bacteria we concluded that the amount of coliform bacteria in a given body of water is dependent on the season in which you as the scientist are testing. In the seasons such as Winter and Fall when animals are less likely to be present in the water and surrounding areas the coliform bacteria is less. During the seasons of Summer and Spring when there are an abundance of animals the coliform bacteria count is higher.


 * Bibliography:**
 * [|http://www.flatrockbrook.org]**
 * http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/dw/programs/coliform.htm**
 * http://www.water-research.net/bacteria.htm**
 * http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/dw/programs/coliform.htm**
 * http://www.oasisdesign.net/water/quality/coliform.htm**
 * http://www.bfhd.wa.gov/info/coliform.php**