Bacteria Testing

Milwaukee Riverkeeper has begun work on a new project aimed at reducing bacteria and pathogen loads in the Menomonee River. Based on modeling by Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) and Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Comission (SEWRPC), bacteria from human fecal sources (fecal coliform bacteria) are much greater than anticipated at a section of the river between Burleigh Ave. and 60th St.

Jason Schroeder collects a water sample on the Menomonee RiverAt an instream monitoring station near 70th St., the amount of fecal coliform regularly exceeds the recreational use standard (200 cells/100ml) by 15 times and has been as high as 1,500 times the standard. The amount of fecal coliform has increased over the past decade, likely exacerbated by an aged and failing sanitary sewer system.

Along with being a health hazard, sewage contains nutrients, trash, and pathogens that cause a wide array of environmental problems. The nutrients provide the food for algae, creating large algal blooms. When the algae die, they strip the water of oxygen and can cause massive fish kills. The bacteria and pathogens lead to polluted river water unsuitable for recreational use, and contribute to beach closings as they discharge into the lake.

Milwaukee Riverkeeper is testing storm water outfalls between Burleigh Ave. and Hawley Rd. on the Menomonee and the lower reaches of Honey Creek and Underwood Creek.  After the samples are collected, Sandra McLellan’s lab at the UW-Milwaukee Great Lakes Water Institute is analyzing the samples for E. coli and Enterococcus.  They then use a technique called Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) to determine if the bacteria are human or animal based by looking at the DNA of the Bacteroides strain of bacteria (Bacteroides are found in the gut of mammals). Once the problem outfalls have been determined, we will be working with the City of Wauwatosa so they can prioritize repairing the areas contributing the highest concentration of pollution first.

With help from MMSD, we have documented 144 stormwater outfalls in our project area. Last fall, we collected 93 samples from 74 unique outfalls. Testing has shown that 41% of all outfalls tested have the marker for human sewage present. This leads us to believe that this area is suffering from infrastructure problems that are long overdue. The stormwater outfalls are discharging human sewage that is more likely to contain pathogens to our local rivers and into Lake Michigan. Unlike our combined sewer overflows in the area which only happen a few times a year, this sewage is being discharged to our waterways on a more continual basis. Equally disturbing were 19 samples that had concentrations of Enterococcus that equaled that of raw sewage. Typical wastewater concentrations are 100,000 – 1,000,000 CFU/100ml (Colony Forming Units/100 milliliters of water). Our most concentrated sample was 1,300,000 CFU!

We will have more updates to follow as our project progresses. Milwaukee Riverkeeper will continue our mission so that one day all of our rivers will be safe to swim in again!

To read a full report of the results click here or dowload the PDF listed below.

Bacteria Map "Google Maps"

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More information on E. coli and Sandra McLellan’s work

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Joyce IDDE Final Report 09.pdf3.47 MB