“Sewage contamination in the Hudson: patterns and processes” with Andrew Juhl (Jan 2010)

“Sewage Contamination in the Hudson: Patterns and Processes”

with Dr. Andrew Juhl

Originally presented 23 Jan 2010 (This is the 101st E2C Workshop.)

The Hudson River has a long history of environmental degradation, with great improvements in recent decades. Nevertheless, sewage contamination remains an intermittent concern and potential threat to human health throughout the Estuary. We have been conducting a comprehensive study of sewage contamination in the 155-mile long tidal estuary since 2006. I will summarize our findings with respect to spatial and temporal patterns of contamination. I will also describe our experimental work to study the fate and persistence of pathogenic bacteria from sewage, once they enter the river environment. All data from our project are publicly available on the internet and we encourage teachers and students to become involved in our study.

This research is conducted in conjunction with Riverkeeper, NY’s leading clean water advocate. Representatives from this organization will join us to discuss what Riverkeeper does and how teachers and students can get involved.

NGSS Connections:MS-LS2, HS-LS2, MS-ESS3.C, HS-ESS3.C,

Introduction to this Workshop ppt

Cutting-Edge Research

We encourage you to look at our data pages on the Riverkeeper website: (http://www.riverkeeper.org/special/swimmableriver/)

The link takes you to a map and list of sampling locations. You can see the Enterococcus data we have collected for each of the 70+ stations along the tidal portion of the River. There are also links to various background data like temperature, salinity, turbidity, etc. There are links to explanations about what the data mean.
We would appreciate learning if teachers found ways to use these data in classrooms. We will almost certainly continue collecting data through 2010. During the Spring, Summer, and Fall, we plan to update the website with new data within days of collection. One thing we hope to add this year is a monthly e-mail alert informing interested parties that new data are available along with a brief, blog-like summary of the findings from the latest sampling cruise.