Escherichia coli and coliform contamination of a primary and secondary use waterway in Clarksville, Arkansas

Abstract

The existence of a live-chicken processing plant about 20 meters from a water source in Clarksville, Arkansas, raises concerns about bacteria contamination in the water. Over a period of three days, water samples from three different locations (upstream, across from the processing plant, and downstream) and for three different types of water at each location (running, stagnant in the middle, stagnant near bank) were collected in triplicate. Bacterial colonies were grown on 3M Escherichia coli/Coliform Petri-Film to identify and count E. coli, coliforms, and other Gram-negative bacteria. E. coli colonies were isolated and antibiotic resistance assays were performed for Ciprofloxacin and Sulfamethoxazole/Trimethoprim. Coliform and other Gram-negative bacterial counts were higher across and downstream from the chicken processing plant as compared to upstream (p < 0.05). High levels of bacteria are not above EPA markers, but are still alarming for the community. There is no significant difference in E. coli antibiotic resistance among locations, but most colonies analyzed were resistant for one of the antibiotics, and no isolate gave a susceptible result, providing more evidence for the increase in antibiotic resistance in wild strains.