Evaluating human fecal contamination sources in Kranji Reservoir Catchment, Singapore

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2010.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Nshimyimana, Jean Pierre
Other Authors: Peter Shanahan and Janelle Thompson.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/60810
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author Nshimyimana, Jean Pierre
author2 Peter Shanahan and Janelle Thompson.
author_facet Peter Shanahan and Janelle Thompson.
Nshimyimana, Jean Pierre
author_sort Nshimyimana, Jean Pierre
collection MIT
description Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2010.
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spelling mit-1721.1/608102019-04-12T14:32:35Z Evaluating human fecal contamination sources in Kranji Reservoir Catchment, Singapore Nshimyimana, Jean Pierre Peter Shanahan and Janelle Thompson. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Civil and Environmental Engineering. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2010. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (p. 120-132). Singapore government through its Public Utilities Board is interested in opening Kranji Reservoir to recreational use. However, water courses within the Kranji Reservoir catchment contain human fecal indicator bacteria above recreational water quality criteria; their sources and distribution under dry and wet weather are also unknown. The goal of this study was to evaluate the distribution of E. coli under dry and wet weather, to determine the sources of the human fecal contamination, and to validate the use of human-specific 16S rRNA Bacteroides marker for human fecal source tracking in Singapore and tropical regions. Environmental water and DNA water samples (332) collected in the Kranji catchment in January and July 2009, and January 2010 were analyzed for E. coli using Hach m-ColiBlue24@ and IDEXX Colilert Quanti-Tray*/2000. Touchdown PCR and Nested-PCR HF183F assays were used to assess the absence or presence of the HF marker in Kranji catchment. Selected positive HF marker samples were sequenced and mapped using a phylogenetic tree to confirm their similarity in base order to the human factor identified in the temperate climate. The indicator bacteria (E. coli) results showed consistently high E. coli concentrations (geometric mean 3240 CFU/100 ml) in dry and wet weather in residential, horticultural and animal farming areas. The DNA analysis results showed that 94% of the 34 environmental DNA water samples collected in residential, horticultural and animal farming areas were positive to the HF marker. Generally, 74% and 94% of DNA samples respectively collected in dry and wet weather in the Kranji catchment were positive. The sequence and phylogenetic tree analysis confirmed that the HF marker identified was similar to the HF marker identified in temperate climates. Based on the results we conclude that human fecal contamination sources are widespread in the animal farming, horticultural and residential areas of Kranji catchment. The HF marker analysis validated its applicability as 16S rRNA gene of human-specific Bacteroides for human fecal source tracking in Singapore and elsewhere in tropical climates. by Jean Pierre Nshimyimana. S.M. 2011-01-26T14:28:19Z 2011-01-26T14:28:19Z 2010 2010 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/60810 696014758 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 160 p. application/pdf a-si--- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Nshimyimana, Jean Pierre
Evaluating human fecal contamination sources in Kranji Reservoir Catchment, Singapore
title Evaluating human fecal contamination sources in Kranji Reservoir Catchment, Singapore
title_full Evaluating human fecal contamination sources in Kranji Reservoir Catchment, Singapore
title_fullStr Evaluating human fecal contamination sources in Kranji Reservoir Catchment, Singapore
title_full_unstemmed Evaluating human fecal contamination sources in Kranji Reservoir Catchment, Singapore
title_short Evaluating human fecal contamination sources in Kranji Reservoir Catchment, Singapore
title_sort evaluating human fecal contamination sources in kranji reservoir catchment singapore
topic Civil and Environmental Engineering.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/60810
work_keys_str_mv AT nshimyimanajeanpierre evaluatinghumanfecalcontaminationsourcesinkranjireservoircatchmentsingapore