Results and Conclusions
Justin Benitez, Whitney Burton, Rico de Guzman
Figure 1. Location of study sites.
Figure 5. Average summer water temperatures (black line) and average fall water temperatures (grey markers) for 6 sites on Stony Brook.
Figure 3. Average pH value for all 6 sites on the Stony Brook.
Figure 4. Average precipitation per month during 2022; the summer months are marked by black bars and fall months are marked with grey bars.
Figure 2. Summer indicator bacteria geomeans (black line) and fall indicator bacteria geomeans (grey markers) for all 6 sites on Stony Brook. Long dashed line indicates the state E. coli geomean maximum of 126 MPN/100 mL; Dash and dotted line indicates the state enterococci geomean maximum of 35 MPN/100 mL.
- Each local waterways is a unique ecosystem, home to many diverse plant and animal species
- High concentrations of sewage pollution can be detrimental to these fragile ecosystems as well as public health
- Sewage pollution can carry pathogens and viruses capable of making humans very sick, and can also carry excess nutrients which can lead to uncontrolled plant growth
- 6 sites were studied from Oct to Nov
- Temperature was measured with a YSI field meters
- Enzyme-substrate method was used to quantify indicator bacteria
- pH data collected using strips
- In the summer, 5 out of the 6 sites on Stony failed to meet the state criteria, with Stony 2 being the only site to meet the state criteria
- In the fall, Stony 1, 5, and 6 all failed to meet the state criteria; Stony 2, 3, and 4 did meet the state criteria
- According to Figure 2, higher concentrations of bacteria were observed in the summer rather than the fall
- pH looks healthy and consistent (Figure 3.)
- Rainfall remained steady throughout the year, apart from August and Nov which had very low levels of rainfall (Figure 4.)
- The summer and fall water temperatures remained constant, and as expected the fall temperatures were cooler than in the summer (Figure 5.)
- We recommend the continued monitoring of pH across multiple year to help us observe potential effects of climate change in our waterways
- We also recommend continued monitoring of Stony 6 as concentrations were elevated in the summer and fall
Summer to Fall Comparisons of Bacteria in Stony Brook
Image 1. Photo of group processing water samples for bacteria.