Franklin Twp Stream Water Quality Monitoring

In 2003-2004 the Franklin Township (Somerset County) Environmental Commission, with an Environmental Services grant from the Department of Environmental Protection, surveyed the water quality of streams in the township. These streams flow into the Millstone River, the Raritan River, or the Delaware and Raritan Canal. The Millstone River and the D&R Canal are sources of public drinking water.

Initially (on Sept. 28-29, 2003) twenty-seven streams were studied. They were field tested for pH, conductivity (a measure of dissolved ionic compounds such as salt), turbidity, dissolved oxygen and temperature, using Horiba U-10 multimeters. Samples collected then were submitted to Accutest Laboratories, Dayton, NJ, a certified testing laboratory, for measurement of nitrates, phosphorus, total solids, fecal coliforms (from rural non-sewered areas) and oil and grease (from developed areas with many roads and parking).

Most streams were above the state water quality standard limit for phosphorus (0.1 mg/liter), but by relatively little; six had a phosphorus level as much as twice the State of New Jersey Surface Water Quality Standards (SWQS: NJAC 7:9B) limit. Turbidity and total suspended solids were a serious problem in Sim’s (Zarephath) Brook, where it was attributed to ongoing construction of the Canal Walk senior village. Nine other sites exceeded the SWQS in turbidity, and six in total suspended solids, but only one of these was more than 20% over the limit. Total nitrogen, and its components nitrate and nitrite, did not exceed SWQS at any site, though it came close in the brook near the Griggstown Quail Farm. Dissolved oxygen, pH and temperature were not a problem in any stream. The few streams tested for oil and grease, measures of direct run-off from streets and parking lots, showed no problems.

Because the nine streams sampled for fecal coliforms (bacteria indicating contamination with fecal matter) at this time all exceeded the SWQS (200 colony-forming units/100 ml) by a considerable amount, the Commission resampled twenty-three streams for fecal coliforms on August 2, 2004. (Streams from developed, sewered areas were not sampled. One site, where illegal dumping was suspected, was tested for volatile organic compounds, but none were found.) Some sites were also sampled for analysis by the Applied Microbiology class at Cook College, Rutgers University, on April 20-21, 2004.

We found that all township streams sampled exceeded the SWQS limit for fecal coliforms, many (13 of 23 tested) at ten to a hundred times the standard, in two or three samplings.

The next question is, what is the source of these organisms? Human waste, geese, deer, domestic animals? It is possible to distinguish sources, in some cases, by the antibiotic resistance pattern of the bacteria isolated. The Commission has applied for another Environmental Services grant to carry out such a study, in cooperation with Cook College/New Jersey Agricultural Station, Rutgers University.

-Dr. Ted Chase

Franklin Township Environmental Commission

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