Comparison of Fecal Coliform Before and After Wastewater Treatment Facility: a Case Study near a Coastal Town in the Southeastern USA Shirish Bhat & Larry J. Danek Received: 22 June 2011 /Accepted: 3 October 2011 # Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 Abstract A central wastewater treatment facility was built in 1997 for the town of Suwannee that eliminated 850 inadequately operating on-site sewage treatment and disposal systems. During a study in 1989–1990, Salmonella were detected in Suwannee River water samples upstream and downstream of the town of Suwannee. This study presents the findings of fecal coliform distribution between the years 1996 and 2009 in canals and the main stem of Suwannee River near the town of Suwannee, a coastal area in southeastern USA. Fecal coliforms were measured and assessed to evaluate the water quality before and after the installation of the central wastewater treat- ment facility. In the canals nearby the town of Suwannee, significant differences in fecal coliform concentrations were detected between the samples collected before and after the operation of the central wastewater treatment facility. Average fecal coliform of 537 most probable number (MPN)/100 ml in the canals in 1996 was reduced to 218 MPN/100 ml after the operation of wastewater treatment facility. The fecal coliform levels in canals decreased significantly in the last 13 years. Even though the average fecal coliform levels in the river was reduced from 170 to 86 MPN/100 ml before and after the installation of the wastewater treatment facility, respectively, the difference was not statistically significant. Keywords Fecal coliforms . Suwannee Sound . Coastal ecosystems . On-site sewage . Indicator bacteria 1 Introduction Pollution, floral and faunal changes, and physical alteration of the environment in coastal ecosystems are under increasing stress from a variety of human activities (Vitousek et al. 1997). Recreational and commercial uses of bays, inlets, estuaries, and rivers affect surface waters of coastal areas. Bacteriological contamination is a major problem in such areas. Pathogenic enteric bacteria enter the environment from human or animal excreta (Dadswell 1993). Fecal coliform bacteria are a constituent of human sewage and animal waste and can be found in natural waters. A few strains of coliform bacteria can cause serious human illness, but their abundance is primarily used to assess the potential for the presence of other more virulent pathogens associated with sewage (Smith 2000). Degradation in water quality from fecal contami- nation may increase health hazards to recreational users (Gersberg et al. 1995). Both direct contact with contaminated water and consumption of contaminated oyster and shellfish can lead to human illness and even death (US Food and Drug Administration 1995; Ford and Colwell 1996). In aquatic environments, Water Air Soil Pollut DOI 10.1007/s11270-011-0991-6 S. Bhat (*) : L. J. Danek Environmental Consulting and Technology, Inc., Gainesville, FL 32606, USA e-mail: shirish.bhat@gmail.com