Kapoor’s research assessed microbial contaminants in southeast and southcentral Texas waterways following Hurricane Harvey.
His work was supported by a Rapid Response Research grant from the National Science Foundation.
"The research we conducted in the Guadalupe River after Hurricane Harvey substantiates that the large number of sewage overflows and storm-water runoff that occurred during Hurricane Harvey flooding introduced high levels of fecal bacteria into environmental waters."
After 800 wastewater treatment plants reported spills from flooding and more than two million pounds of contaminants were released into the environment, the study reports that the sewage overflows posed a risk to human and environmental health via waterborne disease outbreaks, deterioration of recreational and drinking water quality and the degradation of aquatic ecology.
The river runs from Kerr County, Texas to the San Antonio Bay in the Gulf of Mexico.
The river crested at 32 feet, around 10 feet above flood stage.
Notably, all initial water samples collected from the flooded regions of the Guadalupe River by Kapoor and his students contained E. coli and enterococci concentrations above the regulatory level for contact recreational waters.
The UTSA study suggested future studies are needed to explore relationships between human health and human-associated fecal marker levels in recreational waters impacted by sewage, treated effluents and human feces.
While Kapoor says it’s too early to tell if those beaches were impacted as a result of Hurricane Harvey, he notes that he and his students observed elevated levels of fecal bacteria at flooded sites even two to three months after Harvey.
DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.8b00237

The problem was first raised publicly by the social development, infrastructure development and technical services portfolio committees who‚ on May 16 and 17, highlighted that high levels of E.coli — a bacterium indicating contamination by faeces or sewage‚ which can cause a number of illnesses — was found in the water supply.
This raised questions over Makana’s management of water-supply infrastructure and sanitation.
Only after these concerns were raised during the committees’ meeting did officials explain that they had not been testing the water‚ and did not have the necessary chemicals to treat the water because of financial constraints.
They assured the public that the chemicals were on the way.
In 2015‚ Makana municipality hired Amatola Water‚ a company which specialises in providing sanitation and water supply services to municipalities‚ to manage Makana’s unreliable water supply.
According to the Grahamstown Residents Association (GRA) and officials‚ this left Makana without the skills or resources needed for water management operations.
"At Waainek they ran out of chlorine‚ but now [that the public has been informed]‚ the Department of Water and Sanitation has gotten involved to get it working properly‚" Bull said.
Months later‚ after independent tests were done in Grahamstown and the issues were raised at the portfolio committees’ meeting‚ the municipality was forced to address the issue of contamination.
It is an issue of municipalities who only think they are accountable to their political parties‚ when you need to be accountable to your residents‚" Kota said.
Infrastructure upgrades were under way at both James Kleynhans and Waainek water treatment plants.

A steering committee says bacteria sources found in the Shediac watershed must be addressed but couldn’t identify them precisely.
(Paul Hantiuk/CBC) ​The government released its long-awaited final report from a steering committee Friday on water quality at Parlee Beach, and made 14 recommendations that will be implemented at a cost of $760,000.
But the committee said it couldn’t be sure.
Jacques Paynter, an engineer from Amec Foster Wheeler and the project manager, spoke about the findings and recommendations at a news conference in Shediac.
Among the recommendations made by the steering committee is one to conduct a targeted investigation to verify if on-site septic tanks are a potential source of bacteria in high-density areas with substandard building lots.
The steering committee’s report also suggests the development of a tool to predict water quality with relevant data that could be used by the province’s medical health officer to issue "no swimming" advisories.
When bacteria guidelines were exceeded at Parlee Beach last summer, the weather, especially the wind, was one of the causes, the report said.
He added he is happy the government is committed to continuing testing into next summer, but said the report has left him with more questions than answers.
The creation of the steering committee was announced soon after a report by the Shediac Bay Watershed Association found high levels of human fecal bacteria in the Bay of Shediac.
Under those, the beach saw no-swimming advisories on nine days last summer.

”You can use chlorine tablet but it depends on the water.
Chlorine tablet works 100 per cent for water from borehole.
But for muddy waters, if you use chlorine tablet, there will be first chemical reaction which will reduce the effectiveness of that chlorine tablet.
The water needs to be clean.
If the water looks muddy and you use chlorine tablet, it will not work 100 per cent.”
Achieving SDGs Yeo, who acknowledged that government had put on the table some efforts to ensure that WASH services are delivered to the people, urged state governments to adopt the federal government’s expanded WASH programme as part of the efforts to deliver WASH services in the communities.
He urged government to make policies that would facilitate access to improved water sources and sanitation, which will, in turn, help to reduce preventable diseases.
Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had reported the UNICEF on Friday, September 29 said an estimated three million children need emergency education support occasioned by the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast.
UNICEF’s deputy director, Justin Forsyth, told journalists in Maiduguri that urgent interventions were necessary to address the situation.
Forsyth said that over 57 per cent of basic and post basic schools in Borno were closed down due to the crisis caused by the Boko Haram insurgency.

”Dysentery can give you some time to take care of yourself but not cholera”.
“For a community like that, there is need for people to perform filtration or try as much as possible to boil it.
”You can use chlorine tablet but it depends on the water.
Chlorine tablet works 100 per cent for water from borehole.
But for muddy waters, if you use chlorine tablet, there will be first chemical reaction which will reduce the effectiveness of that chlorine tablet.
The water needs to be clean.
Achieving SDGs Yeo, who acknowledged that government had put on the table some efforts to ensure that WASH services are delivered to the people, urged state governments to adopt the federal government’s expanded WASH programme as part of the efforts to deliver WASH services in the communities.
He urged government to make policies that would facilitate access to improved water sources and sanitation, which will, in turn, help to reduce preventable diseases.
Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had reported the UNICEF on Friday, September 29 said an estimated three million children need emergency education support occasioned by the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast.
UNICEF’s deputy director, Justin Forsyth, told journalists in Maiduguri that urgent interventions were necessary to address the situation.

Ketchikan beaches remain contaminated with fecal bacteria.
The southeast Alaska beaches found to be contaminated earlier this month have again tested positive for high levels of a wastewater and sewage pathogen.
The continued contamination has state officials taking a closer look at the water to determine the cause, The Ketchikan Daily News reported (http://bit.ly/2xJDxMV ) on Saturday.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation is working to determine if the fecal bacteria are coming from wildlife, pets or humans.
If the contamination is coming from humans, it could be due to leaking sewer lines, private and municipal waste-treatment systems or boats moored in local harbors, according to the department.
Test results are expected in mid-September.
Seaport Beach, Rotary Beach, Thomas Basin and Knudson Cove are the recently tested beaches that showed continued high levels of the bacteria.
Contact with water contaminated with the bacteria can cause stomach aches, diarrhea and infections.
Officials warn against swimming in the water while it is contaminated.
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“The Boil Water Advisory is lifted and customers in Columbus City Utilities service area can resume using tap water for all purposes.
City water elsewhere in the system showed no signs of contamination, Reeves said.
The advisory had also affected customers outside of the City of Columbus.
—————- Story published in Saturday’s edition of The Republic: The city has issued a boil-order until Sunday morning for all customers on Columbus city-provided water after tests detected E. coli in the distribution system and a city well.
Hinton said she learned of the boil order from The Republic’s Facebook page, then contacted Columbus City Utilities Director Keith Reeves, who had issued the order late Friday afternoon.
The boil order, a first for the city utilities in many years, was required after city workers doing routine testing on Wednesday discovered a sample from the city’s distribution system pipes that tested positive for E. coli when results were returned on Thursday.
As a precaution, the state requires a test of all the city’s water supply wells and that test showed a positive E. coli reading Friday in one of Columbus’ 15 wells, Reeves said.
That well, located in the Bartholomew County Fairgrounds area on the southwest side of the city, was immediately taken offline and is not supplying city water at this time, Reeves said.
If you do not want to boil the water, city officials advise using bottled water until the boil water order is lifted.
If you have a severely compromised immune system, have an infant or are elderly, you may be at increased risk from drinking contaminated water and should seek advice from your health care provider about any symptoms.

Fecal Microbes In 60% of Sampled Wells.
Up to 60 percent of sampled wells in a Kewaunee County study contained fecal microbes, many of which are capable of making people and calves sick, two scientists told hundreds of local residents gathered at a public meeting Wednesday night.The microorganisms included Cryptosporidium, a parasite that comes from both people and animals.
“Obviously we shouldn’t have septic systems if they aren’t working.
The study tested water from 621 of them representing wells with various depths of soil to bedrock.
Seventy-nine of those wells were contaminated by a fecal microorganism — either a virus, parasite or bacteria — 62 of which were linked directly to either bovine or human sources.
Of the 12,200 people using private wells in the county, a projected 140 people per year are infected, as well as 1,700 calves.
“Some people have the money to fix it, but there are many people who can’t even find $500 dollars to put in a treatment system at one faucet,” he said.
Borchardt said when dangerous pathogens were found in private wells during the course of the study, homeowners got phone calls right away to alert them to the results.
The researchers placed autosamplers in three homes to continuously test water quality during periods of recharge.
“Even if the water’s not brown,” Borchardt said, “it doesn’t mean you aren’t drinking contaminated water.” Asked how to solve Kewaunee County’s water problems, Borchardt suggested an expensive fix.

Pig dung leads to profit in Longyou.
Pig dung used to be a serious issue in Longyou county, Zhejiang province.
The waste produced by 2.8 million hogs raised in the county had fouled rivers here.
But Zhu Youbiao, a local farmer, has turned the county’s mountains of dung into serious dough, with the establishment of Kaiqi Energy Technology Co Ltd in 2009.
"I had 25,000 pigs and dozens of tons of dung and urine needed to be dealt with every day," said Zhu.
After consulting experts from China’s Ministry of Agriculture and waste treatment companies in Europe, his research team designed a system that would decontaminate pigs’ excretions and convert this potential source of pollution into profit.
At first, Zhu only used the process to treat his own farm waste.
The central government invested 20 million yuan ($2.9 million) to help Kaiqi promote its facility in 2014, and the company now collects waste from every pig farm in Longyou.
The company produces an average of 15,000 tons of solid biofertilizer and 16 million kilowatt-hours of electricity each year.
By 2016, there were no "black and smelly" or "garbage" rivers left in the county, according to the county’s water resources bureau.

Third highest-quality bathing water in the EU.
But sewage problems persist Sewage runoff remains one of the most significant causes of water pollution at bathing sites despite improvements, according to a European Environment Agency report.
Malta, which according to the report has the third highest-quality bathing water in the EU, has witnessed several problems of sewage pollution in recent years.
One such incident last February saw divers at Ras il-Ħobż in Gozo again complaining of thick underwater sewage clouds, a problem which has been repeatedly highlighted but never addressed.
“This is a cause of concern for public health and can lead to poor quality bathing water.
Pollution from sewage is often the result of storm water overflows of sewage or water draining from farms and farmland or from poorly maintained cesspits and septic tanks,” the report states.
The report, which ranks all coastal and inland bathing sites around the EU, found that Malta was behind only Luxembourg and Cyprus for its bathing water quality.
The remaining site, not identified in the report, is one ranking level below, although still above the minimum quality requirements.
Across Europe, the report found a marked improvement in bathing quality between 2015 and 2016, with only 316 out of more than 21,000 sites classified as poor.
Under EU legislation, such sites have to be closed in the following bathing season, and must have measures in place to reduce pollution and eliminate health hazards.