DNA-Based Water Quality Monitoring Methods to Support Aquatic and Human Health Webinar
- April 24, 2024 (Webinar series)
- Watch the webinar
About the Webinar
1. Becoming Uncultured: Daily Recreational Water Quality Monitoring and Public Notification at Chicago Beaches Using qPCR
Beach water monitoring and notification is vital for protecting the health of beachgoers. Traditionally, beach monitoring has relied on culturing fecal indicator bacteria using methods that require 18-24 hours to generate results, thus providing outdated information for current beach management decisions. In the 2012 Recreational Water Quality Criteria (RWQC), the USEPA endorsed a qPCR method for rapidly measuring enterococci. Since 2015, through a partnership between Chicago Park District (CPD) and the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health (UIC SPH), Chicagoans have daily beach monitoring notifications typically within four hours. Having a well-trained team and consistent daily schedule proved essential for delivering timely and high-quality qPCR results to guide same-day beach management decisions. Given that culture-based results from the previous day can often lead to erroneous beach management decisions, the rapid molecular method should be regarded as the benchmark for public health protection. In this presentation, the discussion focuses on how, following a two-year pilot program of rapid molecular testing of beach water samples, in 2017, Chicago became the first large U.S. city to issue same-day water-quality warnings for all its public recreational beaches and has successfully done so every year after that. The CPD and UIC SPH partnership illustrates that true daily beach monitoring using same-day water quality results is an achievable goal.
Presenter: Abhilasha Shrestha, PhD, University of Illinois Chicago
Abhilasha is a Research Assistant Professor within the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Department at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health (Chicago, IL). Dr. Shrestha conducts research primarily focused on water quality and its implications for public health. Her research interests include investigating various indicator targets and genes to rapidly assess infectious agents in water. Since 2015, she has overseen the management and operation of Chicago’s Lake Michigan beach monitoring project, conducted in collaboration with the Chicago Park District. In addition to her work on beach monitoring, her research also focuses on identifying and mitigating different bacterial sources of pollution at public Lake Michigan beaches in Chicago, utilizing microbial source tracking. Furthermore, Dr. Shrestha spearheaded a wastewater surveillance project for SARS-CoV-2 in Kisumu, Kenya, from 2022 to 2023. She is engaged in ongoing global health water research projects in Kenya and Nepal, contributing significantly to the understanding and management of waterborne health risks on an international scale.
2. Standard Control Material for Quantitative Real-Time PCR Recreational Water Quality Monitoring
Fecal pollution remains a significant challenge for recreational water quality managers. The use of quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) methods is increasing, allowing for same day beach water quality public notification and identification of key fecal pollution sources. However, widespread implementation requires access to a high-quality standard control material. This presentation describes a collaboration between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop Standard Reference Material® 2917 (SRM 2917), SRM 2917 “fit for purpose” performance assessment, and implications for qPCR recreational water monitoring implementation.
Presenter: Orin Shanks, PhD, EPA Office of Research and Development
Orin is a senior scientist with the EPA’s Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling. His current research activities focus on the development and implementation of quantitative nucleic acid-based fecal pollution diagnostic tools, advances in molecular method data analyses and visualization, as well as the persistence of genetic material in environmental scenarios. In addition to research activities, he also provides technical assistance to EPA program offices and regions, states, tribes, and other local groups with an interest in clean and safe waters.