scholarly journals Effects of receiving-water quality and wastewater treatment on injury, survival, and regrowth of fecal-indicator bacteria and implications for assessment of recreational water quality

1996 ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 44 (7) ◽  
pp. 181-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Fujioka

The US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have established recreational water quality standards limiting the concentrations of faecal indicator bacteria (faecal coliform, E. coli, enterococci) to ensure that these waters are safe for swimming. In the application of these hygienic water quality standards, it is assumed that there are no significant environmental sources of these faecal indicator bacteria which are unrelated to direct faecal contamination. However, we previously reported that these faecal indicator bacteria are able to grow in the soil environment of humid tropical island environments such as Hawaii and Guam and are transported at high concentrations into streams and storm drains by rain. Thus, streams and storm drains in Hawaii contain consistently high concentrations of faecal indicator bacteria which routinely exceed the EPA and WHO recreational water quality standards. Since, streams and storm drains eventually flow out to coastal marine waters, we hypothesize that all the coastal beaches which receive run-off from streams and storm drains will contain elevated concentrations of faecal indicator bacteria. To test this hypothesis, we monitored the coastal waters at four beaches known to receive water from stream or storm drains for salinity, turbidity, and used the two faecal indicator bacteria (E. coli, enterococci) to establish recreational water quality standards. To determine if these coastal waters are contaminated with non-point source pollution (streams) or with point source pollution (sewage effluent), these same water samples were also assayed for spore-forming bacteria of faecal origin (Cl. perfringens) and of soil origin (Bacillus species). Using this monitoring strategy it was possible to determine when coastal marine waters were contaminated with non-point source pollution and when coastal waters were contaminated with point source pollution. The results of this study are most likely applicable to all countries in the warm and humid region of the world.


2015 ◽  
Vol 87 ◽  
pp. 59-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Condé Lamparelli ◽  
Kristen Pogreba-Brown ◽  
Marc Verhougstraete ◽  
Maria Inês Zanoli Sato ◽  
Antonio de Castro Bruni ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 78 (19) ◽  
pp. 7166-7169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reagan R. Converse ◽  
Larry J. Wymer ◽  
Alfred P. Dufour ◽  
Timothy J. Wade

ABSTRACTFew studies have addressed the efficacy of composite sampling for measuring indicator bacteria by quantitative PCR (qPCR). We compared results from composited samples with multiple-sample means for culture- and qPCR-based water quality monitoring. Results from composited samples for both methods were similarly correlated to multiple-sample means and predicted criteria exceedances equally.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0256785
Author(s):  
Cole Heasley ◽  
J. Johanna Sanchez ◽  
Jordan Tustin ◽  
Ian Young

Monitoring of fecal indicator bacteria at recreational waters is an important public health measure to minimize water-borne disease, however traditional culture methods for quantifying bacteria can take 18–24 hours to obtain a result. To support real-time notifications of water quality, models using environmental variables have been created to predict indicator bacteria levels on the day of sampling. We conducted a systematic review of predictive models of fecal indicator bacteria at freshwater recreational sites in temperate climates to identify and describe the existing approaches, trends, and their performance to inform beach water management policies. We conducted a comprehensive search strategy, including five databases and grey literature, screened abstracts for relevance, and extracted data using structured forms. Data were descriptively summarized. A total of 53 relevant studies were identified. Most studies (n = 44, 83%) were conducted in the United States and evaluated water quality using E. coli as fecal indicator bacteria (n = 46, 87%). Studies were primarily conducted in lakes (n = 40, 75%) compared to rivers (n = 13, 25%). The most commonly reported predictive model-building method was multiple linear regression (n = 37, 70%). Frequently used predictors in best-fitting models included rainfall (n = 39, 74%), turbidity (n = 31, 58%), wave height (n = 24, 45%), and wind speed and direction (n = 25, 47%, and n = 23, 43%, respectively). Of the 19 (36%) studies that measured accuracy, predictive models averaged an 81.0% accuracy, and all but one were more accurate than traditional methods. Limitations identifed by risk-of-bias assessment included not validating models (n = 21, 40%), limited reporting of whether modelling assumptions were met (n = 40, 75%), and lack of reporting on handling of missing data (n = 37, 70%). Additional research is warranted on the utility and accuracy of more advanced predictive modelling methods, such as Bayesian networks and artificial neural networks, which were investigated in comparatively fewer studies and creating risk of bias tools for non-medical predictive modelling.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (18) ◽  
pp. 6525
Author(s):  
Guy Iverson ◽  
Christa Sanderford ◽  
Charles P. Humphrey ◽  
J. Randall Etheridge ◽  
Timothy Kelley

Wastewater contains elevated concentrations of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB). The type of wastewater treatment technology and septic system density may influence the FIB concentration and exports at the watershed scale. The goal of this study was to gain a better understanding of FIB concentrations and exports from watersheds served by conventional septic (CS) systems, sand filter (SF) septic systems, and a municipal sewer (SEW) system. Seven watersheds (3 CS, 3 SF, and 1 SEW) were monitored to quantify FIB concentration and export monthly from April 2015 to March 2016. The type of wastewater treatment did not yield significant differences in FIB concentration or exports when pooling watersheds using similar wastewater treatment. Watersheds with the highest septic densities (approximately 0.4 systems ha−1) contained greater FIB concentrations and exports than watersheds with the lowest (approximately 0.1–0.2 systems ha−1), but only FIB concentrations significantly differed. These findings suggest that when the septic system density exceeds 0.4 systems ha−1, water quality degradation from septic leachate may be observable at the watershed scale, especially in watersheds dominated by residential development. More research is recommended to determine if this density threshold is similar for other water pollutants and/or in watersheds with differing hydrogeological, land use, and wastewater characteristics.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 888 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Patton ◽  
Leigh-Anne Krometis ◽  
Emily Sarver

Issues surrounding water infrastructure, access, and quality are well documented in the Central Appalachian region of the United States. Even in cases where residents have in-home piped point-of-use (POU) water, some rely on alternative drinking water sources for daily needs—including water collection from roadside springs. This effort aims to better understand and document spring usage in this region by identifying the factors that influence drinking water source selection and comparing household and spring water quality to Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) health-based and aesthetic contaminant recommendations. Households were recruited from communities surrounding known springs in three states (Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia). First- and second-draw, in-home POU tap water samples were collected from participating households and compared to samples collected from local springs on the same day. Samples were analyzed for fecal indicator bacteria and inorganic ions. Study participants completed surveys to document perceptions of household drinking water and typical usage. The majority of survey participants (82.6%) did not trust their home tap water due to aesthetic issues. Water quality results suggested that fecal indicator bacteria were more common in spring water, while several metallic ions were recovered in higher concentrations from household samples. These observations highlight that health risks and perceptions may be different between sources.


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