My summer with the Friends of Blackwater: August 15th -- Ecoli Water Testing!

Today I went with our faithful volunteer Lon to assist with an e-coli test on the north fork of the Blackwater River at an area called Sand Run. It was a great experience and we had to take a canoe to get there, so it was fun to get out there on the water!

The testing process was pretty interesting. In the field we tested the typical things such as pH, TDS, salinity and temperature, and then we collected a sample to bring into the office. We had to keep the sample on ice and had only an hour to get back to the office and get the water plated in a petri dish to put it into the incubator -- so time was of the essence!

Once we got to the office we had to prepare a petri dish by placing drops of this solution -- the name has escaped me at this particular moment -- into it. We then had to use this special device that you put the water collected in with a filter in the bottom. You then suck the water out through the filter and it should leave behind any type of bacteria on the filter. The filter is then placed in the prepared petri dish and then into the incubator! The results can take anywhere from 2-3 days to surface where e-coli will show up as blue dots on the filter and other coliforms will show up as red dots! I can't wait to see what comes of this test!