Effects of Temperature and Precipitation on Microbial Levels in Detroit River Water

This is a student poster representing the work done by community college students as they study and explore research through monitoring of the Detroit River.

During early summer of 2017, water samples were collected from multiple sites on Belle Isle side of the Detroit River, taken back to Wayne County Community College, Downtown Campus lab for plating on nutrient agar media, and evaluated for microbial growth levels after 24 and 48-hour incubation. The four sites chosen to test were the North fishing site, The South fishing site, The Yacht Club and The Beach.

Obtained results suggest that microbial growth levels at the N. Fishing site were elevated as air and surface water temperature increased.