ARS | Publication request: SUBSURFACE TRANSPORT OF CRYPTOSPORIDIUM FROM PASTURES TO SURFACE WATERS: III. HYDROLOGIC SYSTEM.

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: October 18, 2000
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Little is known about the transport of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts through soil and into surface waters. The study site located at the J. Phil Campbell, Sr., Natural Resource Conservation Center, USDA-ARS, Watkinsville, GA. consisted of a 40 m by 30 m plot immediately above a perennial spring draining the area. The site was instrumented to conduct a water budget analysis to evaluate soil-water and particle translocation. Spring flow response to precipitation was found to depend strongly on antecedent water content. Wetter conditions led to response times of less than 1 h, with soil water contributing a large percentage of the increased flow. Transport experiments were conducted using bromide and latex polystyrene microspheres as surrogates for oocysts. Though drought conditions existed, microspheres were obtained in fluid samples collected at the spring, at the water table and within the soil profile. The presence of microspheres in the spring water indicates that they migrated rapidly through the unsaturated soil and groundwater. The soil water balance and particle transport analysis will be presented, and the implications of rapid transport of particles through soil will be discussed.