| Dry Weather Open Drain Sampling Eighty-eight outfalls have been located within the 3.5 mile open portion of Bear Creek. Forty of the 88 outfalls, shown on the map below, had dry weather flow during the fall of 2000 inventory. Each of these outfalls was field screened for ammonia, surfactants and conductivity and sampled for E. coli. The results indicated that three drains had elevated levels of E. coli. For this project, E. coli levels greater than 3,000 colonies/100ml are considered elevated. The drains with elevated levels of E. coli are placed on a "priority list" for future follow-up. There are no state or federal standards setting specific E.coli limits for use in conducting illicit discharge elimination programs. Other water quality projects in Michigan and elsewhere have used an E.coli count of 10,000 colonies/100 ml as an indicator that illicit sources of sewage exist in the system. The Bear Creek Board adopted a more stringent standard of 3,000 colonies/100 ml as the trigger point for further investigation.
Click on an outfall ID on the map below for individual results for depth of flow (inches), conductivity (µS/cm), temperature (°C), ammonia (ppm), surfactants (ppm) and E. coli (colonies/100ml). *Netscape users: this function works best in Netscape 4.X
This web site has been developed by the Drain Board for the Bear Creek Clean Water Initiative. Questions about the project can be directed to Lynne Seymour, Environmental Engineer, Office of Macomb County Public Works Commissioner, (586) 469-5910.
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