CINCINNATI — A new study conducted by University of Cincinnati students found “alarming levels” of human E. coli bacteria at a park near campus.
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The student team investigated E. coli levels in the soil at Burnet Woods Park after “a combined sewer overflow event” that happened earlier this month as heavy rain drenched the region for days, according to our news partner WCPO-TV in Cincinnati.
A sample taken eight hours after the overflow event found there was 600 times the amount of E. coli permitted for recreational waters, according to a release from UC professor Bob Hyland.
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Combined sewer systems collect everything from rainwater runoff to sewage to wastewater, all in one pipe, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Untreated storm and wastewater can flow into nearby bodies of water when the amount of runoff is greater than the system’s capacity, the station reports.
Installation of combined sewers was prohibited by the Ohio EPA because of their pollution concerns, according to the agency’s website.
Samples taken at three locations in the lower valley of the park at 8 hours, 24 hours and 72 hours after the overflow event indicated “expected but incomplete declines” in the level of CFUs as time went on, as reported by WCPO.
“More research should be conducted in Burnet Woods, as well as other Cincinnati parks with non-enumerated CSOs, to better understand the scope and severity of the risk, as well as the rate of CFU decline under different conditions,” a researcher said in a preliminary report on the data found.
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