A study of microorganisms found in the Red River

Abstract

A nutritional distribution study was carried out on the bacteria of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. The results showed a great variation in the levels of the different nutritional groups. Microorganisms utilizing as their minimal medium, a medium containing glucose, amino acids and basal salts, were generally the most numerous. River waters at sampling stations within metropolitan Winnipeg had a high percentage of such organisms in winter; this percentage fell during the spring and summer. The percentage increased again during the fall, rising towards the values obtained during the winter... When the different nutritional types were taken separately but averaged over all sampling stations at all depths are compared throughout the seasons a clear pattern emerged. Those microorganisms utilizing the simplest medium as their minimal medium were found to be most numerous in the fall, declining through the winter and spring and then increasing toward the fall value during the summer. Those microorganisms which utilized the more complex media as their minimal media were found to be most numerous in the winter and spring and declined in the summer and fall. Temperature pH, total bacterial counts and faecal coliform counts were also determined. The faecal coliform count showed an increase through the summer and decreased again in the fall at all the sampling stations except at the station furthest downstream. At this sampling station the faecal coliform count reached a maximum in the winter, decreased during the summer, and increased again in the fall.