Endotoxin levels at Swine farms using different waste treatment and management technologies.

Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are a major source of airborne endotoxins, which are air pollutants that can cause adverse health effects to both on-site farmers and neighbors. Release of airborne endotoxins to the environment can be reduced using proper waste treatment and management technologies. In this study, the levels of endotoxins released from two swine CAFOs using conventional lagoon-sprayfield technology were compared to those of 15 farms using various alternative waste management technologies in North Carolina.

Comparison of immunomagnetic separation/adenosine triphosphate rapid method to traditional culture-based method for E. coli and enterococci enumeration in wastewater.

Untreated wastewater samples from California, North Carolina, and Ohio were analyzed by the immunomagnetic separation/adenosine triphosphate (IMS/ATP) method and the traditional culture-based method for E. coli and enterococci concentrations. The IMS/ATP method concentrates target bacteria by immunomagnetic separation and then quantifies captured bacteria by measuring bioluminescence induced by release of ATP from the bacterial cells.

Comparison of traditional and molecular analytical methods for detecting biological agents in raw and drinking water following ultrafiltration.

Aims: To compare the performance of traditional methods to quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) for detecting five biological agents in large-volume drinking-water samples concentrated by ultrafiltration (UF).

Methods And Results: Drinking-water samples (100 l) were seeded with Bacillus anthracis, Cryptospordium parvum, Francisella tularensis, Salmonella Typhi, and Vibrio cholerae and concentrated by UF. Recoveries by traditional methods were variable between samples and between some replicates; recoveries were not determined by qPCR.

Rapid detection of Escherichia coli and enterococci in recreational water using an immunomagnetic separation/adenosine triphosphate technique.

Aims: The aim of this study was to examine a rapid method for detecting Escherichia coli and enterococci in recreational water.

Methods And Results: Water samples were assayed for E. coli and enterococci by traditional and immunomagnetic separation/adenosine triphosphate (IMS/ATP) methods.

Investigation of bioaerosols released from swine farms using conventional and alternative waste treatment and management technologies.

Microbial air pollution from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) has raised concerns about potential public health and environmental impacts. We investigated the levels of bioaerosols released from two swine farms using conventional lagoon-sprayfield technology and ten farms using alternative waste treatment and management technologies in the United States. In total, 424 microbial air samples taken at the 12 CAFOs were analyzed for several indicator and pathogenic microorganisms, including culturable bacteria and fungi, fecal coliform, Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringens, bacteriophage, and Salmonella.

Intra-storm variability in microbial partitioning and microbial loading rates.

Association with particles in the water column can have a significant impact on microbial fate and transport. This study analyzed multiple stormwater samples taken throughout the duration of three separate storms (at two different sites) to evaluate the fraction of microbes partitioning to denser "settleable" particles and to examine how partitioning behavior varied over the course of a storm. Intra-storm sampling also allowed for estimates of microbial loading rates (both total and particle-associated) and cumulative storm-induced microbial load.

Microbial partitioning to settleable particles in stormwater.

The degree to which microbes in the water column associate with settleable particles has important implications for microbial transport in receiving waters, as well as for microbial removal via sedimentation (i.e. detention basins).

Inactivation of enteric microbes in water by electro-chemical oxidant from brine (NaCl) and free chlorine.

Oxidant solutions of mostly free chlorine can be electrochemically produced on-site from brine (NaCl) solution and used to disinfect water at the household or community level. In this study electrochemical oxidant (ECO) from brine and free chlorine were evaluated under laboratory conditions for inactivation of test microbes. Purified suspensions of Escherichia coli, the rugose strain of Vibrio cholerae, Clostridium perfringens spores, MS2 coliphage and Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts were treated with 2 mg/L or 5 mg/L solutions of ECO or free chlorine at 5 degrees C and 25 degrees C and pH 6, 8, and 10 (pH 7 and 25 degrees C only for C.