| Description |
The author was interested in knowing the kinds and number of bacteria in Great Salt Lake water. Investigations on such a problem would naturally suggest many related questions. Could the bacteria in the salt water be classified with bacteria already found and described? Upon what media would they live; upon which would they grow best; what temperature would be most favorable; and, how long would they require to grow? Then, the author wanted to determine whether or not it is possible for common pathogens to live in such a dense salt solution. With the ever increasing numbers of bathers at Saltair, and the emptying of the voluminous septic tank into the lake very near the pavilion, has the bathing at Saltair a problem like that concerned in swimming pool sanitation? Unfortunately, direct experimentation, that is, testing of the water contaminated by the septic tank contents, was impossible since the work was done in the months from November to May, when the resort was not open and there were no bathers, and therefore, no big source of contamination. The organisms had to be placed in salt water for the experiments on viability. Conditions were made as near as possible to the natural. It was the purpose of the author to, first: isolate, cultivate, characterize, and classify the normal bacterial flora of Great Salt Lake; and second: to determine how long other bacteria might live in Great Salt Lake, and then to draw conclusions as to a possible sanitary problem at Saltair. |
