Assessment of Fecal Contamination in Oklahoma Water Systems through the Use of Sterol Fingerprints

Abstract

Fecal contamination is a major concern for water quality management, since the fecal materials are associated with pathogens that can cause illness wherever water is used for recreational, drinking and aquaculture purposes. In order to monitor source(s) of fecal contamination in Oklahoma water systems, sterol profiles were previously examined in rural and urban samples collected from the Illinois River Basin and the Norman Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), respectively. Two distinctive, qualitatively and quantitatively, sterol fingerprints were recognized. Despite the effective removal of organic material by the Norman WWTP, human-derived sterol fingerprints, characterized by a predominance of fecal stanols such as coprostanol, were still significant in the output from the plant. The source of fecal material in the Illinois River samples (rural) was defined as being characteristic of corn-feed chicken manure originating from surrounding feedlots through the principal component analysis (PCA) of the sterol distributions and carbon compound specific isotope analysis of selected sterols (CSIA, δ 13 C). Thiosteranes, formed during sludge treatments, were also shown to be useful tracers for monitoring sludge application in agriculture fields. The results obtained were used to provide water management authorities with qualitative insights into the source of fecal material inputs into the environment.

Steroid Fingerprint Analysis of Endangered Caspian Seal (Pusa caspica) through the Gorgan Bay (Caspian Sea)

“…In agreement with R7 and high levels of coprostanol detected, R8 (%cop) > 5–6% showed a human fecal signal in wastewater in all abiotic samples, but in biota is noncertain. , Similar to R8, R9 (%24-e-cop) was applied as an indicator of fecal sterol of ruminants (herbivore) , because 24-ethylcoprostanol is one of the sterols present in much lower levels in the digested sludge produced by anaerobic degradation of β-sitosterol . Based on R9 < 5–6%, the presence of fecal sterols of domestic livestock, such as cow and sheep, was quantified in low concentrations in sludge input.…”

“…2,124 Similar to R8, R9 (%24-e-cop) was applied as an indicator of fecal sterol of ruminants (herbivore) 2,18 because 24-ethylcoprostanol is one of the sterols present in much lower levels in the digested sludge produced by anaerobic degradation of β-sitosterol. 125 Based on R9 < 5−6%, the presence of fecal sterols of domestic livestock, such as cow and sheep, was quantified in low concentrations in sludge input. In this line, to distinguish among different animal feces, and between herbivore, human, and mixed feces, R10 (cop+ep-cop +24-e-ep-cop/cop+chol-a) and R11 ((cop/cop+24-e-ep-cop) × 100) ratios could also be used, respectively.…”

“…In this line, to distinguish among different animal feces, and between herbivore, human, and mixed feces, R10 (cop+ep-cop +24-e-ep-cop/cop+chol-a) and R11 ((cop/cop+24-e-ep-cop) × 100) ratios could also be used, respectively. 2, 23,125 This ratio could be explained to differentiate between animal (dominated by 24-e-ep-cop) and human-sourced manure (dominated by cop). 23,126 The ratio of R10 ≥ 1 is indicative of bovine-sourced feces, 2,22 and 38 < R11 < 73 can be attributed to the mixtures of the herbivore/human feces, 2,122 with the dominance of porcine-originated sterols (51 < R11 < 61).…”

“…Based on R9 < 5–6%, the presence of fecal sterols of domestic livestock, such as cow and sheep, was quantified in low concentrations in sludge input. In this line, to distinguish among different animal feces, and between herbivore, human, and mixed feces, R10 (cop+ep-cop+24-e-ep-cop/cop+chol-a) and R11 ((cop/cop+24-e-ep-cop) × 100) ratios could also be used, respectively. ,, This ratio could be explained to differentiate between animal (dominated by 24-e-ep-cop) and human-sourced manure (dominated by cop). , The ratio of R10 ≥ 1 is indicative of bovine-sourced feces, , and 38 < R11 < 73 can be attributed to the mixtures of the herbivore/human feces, , with the dominance of porcine-originated sterols (51 < R11 < 61). , Similarly, Harrault et al found the R11 ratio <0.73 for marine oysters C. gigas , indicative of human pollution. R12 (camp-e+sito-e/chol-e) ratio was applied to distinguish between pig (R12 > 1.5) and human (R12 < 1.0) feces contamination in soil or water sample, , and it supported the presence of pig slurry pollution in the southeast Caspian Sea environment.…”

Village Settlements in Mountainous Tropical Areas, Hotspots of Fecal Contamination as Evidenced by Escherichia coli and Stanol Concentrations in Stormwater Pulses

“…The complementary information given by both the microbial indicator and the biomarkers provides a multimetrics evaluation of water quality. 19,82,83 In our study, [E. coli] was correlated to [copros] WS (r = 0.81; r 2 = 0.66) and to [24etco] WS (r = 0.83; r 2 = 0.69) (Figure SI3). Strong positive associations between [E. coli] and [copros] WS were already highlighted in the Mekong Delta (r 2 = 0.86 and 0.91 during rainy and dry seasons, respectively).…”