Why is this project needed?
Fecal pollution in lakes, stream and marine environments can make swimming and shellfishing unsafe. Determining the source of fecal contamination in surface waters is often difficult. Fecal coliform bacteria and E. coli bacteria are the two most common indicators of fecal contamination in water. Fecal coliform bacteria and E. coli bacteria are usually not dangerous alone, but they indicate that other disease-causing organisms might be present. These indicator bacteria are almost identical whether they come from wildlife, humans or domestic animals. Taking a genetic fingerprint (rRNA ribotyping) of these bacteria can help identify which animal species they come from. Knowing the source means clean-up can be more effective and efficient. See the project abstract or a step by step overview.

Testing an innovative method
Researchers at the Wells Reserve and UNH-Jackson Estuarine Laboratory will help evaluate and validate this new technique of investigating fecal contamination through the Microbial Source Tracking project. The results should shed light on the fecal contamination that has closed clam flats in Wells. The project should enable pollution prevention efforts to be more efficiently directed, and possibly lead to the reopening of these shellfishing areas.

See step by step how our MST project works.