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The BacteriALERT program has proven to be successful in alerting the public to E. coli bacteria concentrations in the Chattahoochee River. The web site is visited hundreds of times per day and about 100 people routinely receive daily email giving bacteria counts from this program.
Data analysis to date shows that total coliform and E. coli bacteria levels fluctuate greatly, even in a stream within a minimally impacted watershed. Although the bacteria levels at the background site, Panola Creek, do not appear related to turbidity, bacteria levels in the Chattahoochee are strongly related to turbidity. Using these relations, a logistic model will be developed to predict the probability that E. coli bacteria levels will exceed the US Environmental Protection Agency standard at a given turbidity. With the logistic model and continuous turbidity sondes deployed at each site, web-accessible real-time monitoring of E. coli concentration and potential health risk will be possible.
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