Inclusion of hydrodynamic properties of bathing waters is critical in selecting faecal indicators to assess public health impacts of faecal contamination.
Water Res
; 242: 120137, 2023 Aug 15.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37300999
ABSTRACT
The EU Bathing Water Directive (BWD) requires member states to assess bathing water quality according to the levels of faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) in designated bathing areas. However, this criterion has two significant limitations given that the BWD does not; (i) account for differences in hydrodynamic properties of bathing waters and, (ii) assumes that all faecal pathogens decay equally in aquatic environments. This study simulated sewage discharge events in three hypothetical aquatic environments characterised by different advection and dispersion parameters in the solute transport equation. Temporal changes in the downstream concentration of six faecal indicators were determined in simulations that utilised measured decay rates of each faecal indicator from a programme of controlled microcosm experiments in fresh and seawater environments. The results showed that the decay rates of faecal indicators are not a critical parameter in advection dominant water bodies, such as in fast-flowing rivers. Therefore, faecal indicator selection is less important in such systems and for these, FIB remains the most cost-effective faecal indicator to monitor the public health impacts of faecal contamination. In contrast, consideration of faecal indicator decay is important when assessing dispersion and advection/dispersion dominant systems, which would pertain to transitional (estuarine) and coastal waterbodies. Results suggest that the inclusion of viral indicators, such as crAssphage and PMMoV, could improve the reliability of water quality modelling and minimise the risk of waterborne illnesses from faecal contamination.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Calidad del Agua
/
Salud Pública
/
Hidrodinámica
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Water Res
Año:
2023
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Irlanda