WILDERNESS MANAGEMENT: HUMAN WASTE & WATER QUALITY Sign at Pelion Plains By Juliette Brassington BA Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Environmental Management Centre for Environmental Studies School of Geography and Environmental Studies University of Tasmania 1999 STATEMENT I declare that this thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other higher degree or graduate diploma in any tertiary institution and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is made in the text of the thesis. Juliette Brassington J. Brassington This thesis may be made available for loan and limited copying in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968. ABSTRACT Human wastes in wilderness areas have a number of impacts. Many of these impacts relate to inadequate disposal methods which are unable to contain harmful pathogens found in human wastes nor prevent animal contact with them. This situation can lead to contamination of surface waters, thereby posing a public health risk. These issues are compounded by the dramatic rise in visitation to these areas and a lack of research or baseline data from which to make informed management decisions. A case study was undertaken at Pelion Plains in the Tasmanian World Heritage Area to examine the impact of human waste on water quality. Pelion Plains is a heavily used area, and there is anecdotal evidence linking the area to a number of health related problems. Using the traditional indicator method, Faecal coliform levels taken over five sample occasions ranged from 1-410 (cfu) per 100 mL water and Faecal streptococci levels ranged from 1-420 per 100 mL. Results indicate that the water is not suitable for drinking. Currently no warning is provided advising visitors of a potential health risk associated with the consumption of untreated water. The faecal sterol method was also used due to its ability to differentiate human and herbivore faecal matter. Results indicated that contamination was herbivore in origin. Due to lack of (antecedent) rain during sampling, however, results were not considered to be truly representative in this study. A limited macroinvertebrate analysis was also undertaken to provide much needed baseline data, which may be useful as a pollution indicator for the detection of long term ecological impacts. This research has demonstrated that inadequate disposal of human wastes is influencing water quality in a wilderness area, and that associated issues of public health are not being addressed. In particular this research demonstrated that the existing toilets and camping activities at Pelion Plains are implicated in the contamination of surface water which is currently used for drinking. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many people are to be thanked for their help throughout this thesis. Thanks to my supervisor Associate Professor John Todd especially for his presence in times of absence. Thanks to Mike Driessen from Parks and Wildlife, firstly for providing financial support without which this thesis would not have been possible, and for his insistence on sharing the experience of standing in the freezing waters of Douglas Creek with me very early one morning. Thanks also to the Rangers of Cradle Mountain National Park for giving me a lift to Pelion in the helicopter. Thanks to Dr Rhys Leeming from CSIRO for not only lending me equipment, but for 'engineering' it to making it suitable for use in a remote area on such short notice, and for generously donating much needed advice, time and materials. Thanks to Jen and Roger for their help and company in the field on the long walk in and out of Pelion in some pretty ordinary weather. Thanks to John Ashworth for his valuable assistance with the macroinvertebrate identification and software ordeals and to Dr Peter McQuillan for statistical support. Thanks also to Dr Garland and staff of the Aquahealth laboratory for the faecal analysis and advice. Finally many thanks to the students and staff of the Centre for Environmental Studies, and most importantly to my exceptional friend Pete for not only his prolific proofreading and counsel, but also his boundless encouragement and constant raillery. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.2 THE GROWTH OF WILDERNESS VISITATION 2 1.3 WILDERNESS MANAGEMENT 2 1.4 VISITOR IMPACT RESEARCH 4 1.5 RESEARCH OUTLINE 5 1.6 Aims AND HYPOTHESIS 6 1.7 THESIS OUTLINE 7 CHAPTER 2: HUMAN WASTE IN WILDERNESS AREAS: ISSUES AND IMPACTS 9 2.1 INTRODUCTION 9 2.2 PROBLEMS OF HUMAN WASTE DISPOSAL 9 2.2. / The Composition of Human Waste 10 2.2.1.1 Faecal Wastes 10 2.2.1.2 Environmental Influences on the Decomposition of Faecal Waste 10 2.2.1.3 Urine and Menstrual Waste 12 2.2.2 Social Considerations of Human Waste Disposal 13 2.3 MANAGEMENT PRACTICES 13 2.3.1 Areas With no or Unusable Toilet Facilities 14 2.3.1.1 The Carry-Out Campaign 15 2.3.1.2 Shallow-Burial of Faeces: an Assessment 15 2.3.2 Toilets in Wilderness Areas 17 2.4 CONCLUSIONS 19 CHAPTER 3: WILDERNESS WATER MICROBIOLOGY 20 3.1 INTRODUCTION 20 3.2 MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS 20 3.3 WHY Do VISITORS CONSUME CONTAMINATED RAW WATER? 22 ' 3.4 A REVIEW OF STUDIES INVESTIGATING HUMAN USE AND FAECAL CONTAMINATION OF SURFACE WATERS 23 3.4.1 Findings with no Connection Between Visitation and Faecal Contamination 23 3.4.2 Studies With a Connection Between Visitation and Faecal Contamination 24 3.4.3 Problems with these Studies 26 3.5 PATHOGEN TRANSMISSION IN THE WILDERNESS ENVIRONMENT WHERE THE MAJOR RESERVOIR IS HUMAN FAECES 27 3.6 ZOONOTIC DISEASES 28 3.6.1 Parasitic Zoonoses 28 3.6.1.1 Giardia 28 3.6.1.1.1 Examples of Giardiasis in Wilderness Areas 30 3.6.1.2 Ctyptosporidium 31 3.7 BACTERIAL DISEASES 31 3. 7.1 Bacterial Zoonoses 32 3.7.1.1 Salmonella (Typhoid or Paratyphoid fever) 32 3.7.1.2 Campylobacter 32 3.7.1.3 Yersinia enterocolitica 33 3. 7.1.4 Leptospira 33 3.7.2 Other Bacterial Waterborne Diseases Which are not Zoonoses 33 3.7.2.1 Vibrio cholerae (Cholera) 33 3.7.2.2 Shingella 33 3.7.2.3 E. coli 34 3.8 VIRAL PATHOGENS 34 3.9 CONCLUSIONS 34 CHAPTER 4: SITE DESCRIPTION OF PELION PLAINS 36 4.1 INTRODUCTION 36 4.2 VALUES 38 4.3 FAUNA 38 4.4 DESCRIPTION OF SAMPLE SITES ALONG DOUGLAS CREEK 39 4.4.1 Sample Site Selection 39 4.5 CLIMATE 41 4.6 HUMAN HISTORY AND LAND USE 42 4.7 MANAGEMENT 42 4.7.1 Zoning 43 4.8 VISITOR PROFILE 43 4.9 COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS 43 4.10 TOILET SYSTEMS AT PELION PLAINS 44 4.11 WATER SUPPLY AT PELION PLAINS 44 4.12 CONCLUSIONS 45 CHAPTER 5: MICROBIOLOGICAL INDICATOR ORGANISMS AND DOUGLAS CREEK 46 5.1 INTRODUCTION 46 5.2 METHOD 46 5.2.1 Sampling 47 5.2.2 Sample Collection Procedure 48 5.2.3 Microbiological Sample Collection 49 5.2.4 Detection of Faecal Bacteria 49 5.3 LIMITATIONS 50 LI 5.3.1 Flow Rate Measurements 50 5.3.2 Rainfall Data 51 5.4 MICROBIOLOGICAL INDICATOR ORGANISMS: THE RESULTS 51 5.4.1 Faecal coliforms 51 5.4.2 Faecal streptococci 55 5.5 STANDARDS FOR WATER QUALITY IN AUSTRALIA 56 5.6 DISCUSSION OF MICROBIOLOGICAL QUALITY AT DOUGLAS CREEK 57 5.6.1 Faecal coliform and streptococci Survival Rates 57 5.6.2 Contamination and its Relationship to Rainfall 58 5.7 A DISCUSSION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MICROBIOLOGICAL QUALITY AND THE TOILET SYSTEMS OF PELION PLAINS 59 5.7.1 Clivus Multrum Toilet - Cradle Mountain Huts 60 5.7.2 Cage Batch Toilet - New Pelion Hut 61 5.7.3 Pit Toilet - Old Pelion Hut 63 5.8 SWIMMING IN DOUGLAS CREEK AND OTHER ACTIVITIES AFFECTING WATER QUALITY 65 5.9 FACTORS INFLUENCING RISK OF ILLNESS 66 5.9.1 Acquired Immunity 66 5.10 CONCLUSIONS 67 CHAPTER 6: ALTERNATIVE METHODS FOR INVESTIGATING WATER QUALITY: FACEAL STEROLS AND MACROINVERTEBRATES 69 6.1 INTRODUCTION 69 6.2 TRADITIONAL INDICATOR METHOD 69 6.3 FAECAL STEROLS 70 6.4 METHOD FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF FAECAL STEROLS 72 6.4.1 Sampling 72 6.4.2 Sampling Conditions 72 6.4.3 Results 72 6.4.3.1 ANALYSIS OF FAECAL STEROLS 73 6.4.4 Discussion 73 6.5 MACROINVERTEBRATES 74 6.5.1 Method of Macroin vertebrate Investigation 75 6.5.1.1 Site Selection 75 6.5.1.2 Sampling 75 6.5.1.3 Macroinvertebrate Identification 76 6.5.1.4 Data Collation and Analysis 76 6.5.1.5 Limitations 76 6.5.2 Results 77 6.5.3 Discussion 80 6.5.4 Conclusions 81 In CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSIONS AND RESEARCH RECOMMENDATIONS 82 7.1 CONCLUSIONS 82 7.2 RESEARCH RECOMMENDATIONS 85 REFERENCE LIST 87 PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS 99 APPENDIXES 100 APPENDIX 1: RAINFALL DATA FOR CRADLE VALLEY AND LAKE ST CLAIR 101 APPENDIX 2: MICROBIOLOGICAL RESULTS FOR CRADLE VALLEY 103 APPENDIX 3: FULL TAXA LIST FOR DOUGLAS CREEK 105 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 4.1 LOCATION MAP OF CRADLE MOUNTAIN, PELION PLAINS AND LAKE Si CLAIR, TASMANIA 36 FIGURE 4.2 THE PELION PLAINS 37 FIGURE 4.3 MEAN DAILY MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE FOR PELION PLAINS 41 FIGURE 4.4 MEDIAN RAINFALL FOR PELION PLAINS 41 FIGURE 5.1 FAECAL COLIFORM LEVELS AND RAINFALL DATA FOR DOUGLAS CREEK 52 FIGURE 5.2 FAECAL STREPTOCOCCI LEVELS FOR DOUGLAS CREEK 55 FIGURE 6.1 ORDINATION OF DOUGLAS CREEK SITES BASED ON UNTRANSFORMED DATA WITH SIGNIFICANTLY (P< 0.05) CORRELATED TAXA FITTED IN THE SAME ORDINATION SPACE 79 LIST OF TABLES TABLE 4.1 DOUGLAS CREEK SAMPLE SITE DESCRIPTIONS 40 TABLE 5.1 MICROBIOLOGICAL SAMPLING EVENTS 47 TABLE 5.2 FAECAL COLIFORM RESULTS (CFU) PER 100/ML FOR DOUGLAS CREEK 52 TABLE 5.3 MEDIAN FAECAL COLIFORM VALUES FOR FIVE SAMPLES 57 TABLE 6.1 AVERAGE FAMILY RICHNESS AT EACH SAMPLING SITE AT DOUGLAS CREEK 77 TABLE 6.2 THE INFLUENCE OF SITE AND SUBSTRATE AND THEIR INTERACTION ON RICHNESS (ANOVA FOLLOWED BY A POST-HOC DUNNETT'S T3 TEST) 78 TABLE 6.3 T-TEST DETERMINING DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RIFFLE AND FLAT 78 TABLE 6.4 RESULTS OF ANOVA AND POST-HOC DUNNETT'S T3 TESTS 78 TABLE 6.5 CORRELATION COEFFICIENTS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE VALUE FROM ORDINATION USING ALL TAXA UNTRANSFORMED (RAW) DATA SET 80 iv LIST OF PLATES PLATE 5.1 HELICOPTER REMOVING HUMAN WASTES FROM THE CRADLE MOUNTAIN HUTS TOILET.