Within-day variability in microbial concentrations at a UK designated bathing water: Implications for regulatory monitoring and the application of predictive modelling based on historical compliance data.

Prediction of bathing water quality is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Union (EU) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and is an established element in bathing water management designed to protect public health. Most commonly, historical regulatory compliance data are used for model calibration and provide the dependent variable for modelling. Independent (or predictor) variables (e.

Faecal indicator organism inputs to watercourses from streamside pastures grazed by cattle: Before and after implementation of streambank fencing.

Faecal indicator organisms (FIOs) are major pollutants in many catchments world-wide, with streamside pastures on livestock farms being potentially significant sources. Hitherto, few empirical studies have quantified FIO fluxes from such areas or investigated streambank fencing (SBF) and other possible mitigation measures. The aim of this two-phase (before/after intervention) study of the effectiveness of SBF was to generate an empirical evidence-base to enable regulatory authorities to make better-informed decisions concerning the implementation of this measure.

Relationships between human adenoviruses and faecal indicator organisms in European recreational waters.

Human adenoviruses (HAdV) may be implicated in some disease outbreaks associated with recreational water exposures, typically in swimming pools. Modern molecular methods can be used to detect HAdV in environmental water samples. During the EU FP6 Project VIROBATHE a database of over 290 HAdV analyses with corresponding faecal indicator organism (FIO) determinations was gathered and used to explore statistical associations between HAdV and FIO results.

Evaluating short-term changes in recreational water quality during a hydrograph event using a combination of microbial tracers, environmental microbiology, microbial source tracking and hydrological techniques: a case study in Southwest Wales, UK.

Quantitative assessment of multiple sources to short-term variations in recreational water quality, as indexed by faecal indicator organism (FIO) concentrations, is becoming increasingly important with adoption of modern water quality standards and catchment-based water quality management requirements (e.g. the EU Water Framework Directive, Article 11 'Programmes of Measures' and the US Clean Water Act, 'Total Maximum Daily Loads').

Evaluating the operational utility of a Bacteroidales quantitative PCR-based MST approach in determining the source of faecal indicator organisms at a UK bathing water.

Microbial source tracking techniques are used in the UK to provide an evidence-base to guide major expenditure decisions and/or regulatory action relating to sewage disposal. Consequently, it is imperative that the techniques used robustly index faecal indicator organisms (FIOs) that are the regulatory parameters for bathing and shellfish harvesting areas. This study reports a 'field-scale' test of microbial source tracking (MST) based on the quantitative PCR analyses of Bacteroidales 16S rRNA genetic marker sequences.

Results of field investigations into the impact of intermittent sewage discharges on the microbiological quality of wild mussels (Mytilus edulis) in a tidal estuary.

Field surveys were designed to examine the effects of sewage contamination from storm overflow effluent on faecal coliform and Escherichia coli concentrations in the flesh of wild mussels (Mytilus edulis). Bags containing 30 mussels each were fixed at known inter-tidal locations and retrieved at intervals following discharge from a nearby combined sewer overflow (CSO). Concentrations of faecal coliform bacteria and E.

Microbial source tracking: a forensic technique for microbial source identification?

As the requirements of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the US Clean Water Act (USCWA) for the maintenance of microbiological water quality in 'protected areas' highlight, there is a growing recognition that integrated management of point and diffuse sources of microbial pollution is essential. New information on catchment microbial dynamics and, in particular, the sources of faecal indicator bacteria found in bathing and shellfish harvesting waters is a pre-requisite for the design of any 'programme of measures' at the drainage basin scale to secure and maintain compliance with existing and new health-based microbiological standards. This paper reports on a catchment-scale microbial source tracking (MST) study in the Leven Estuary drainage basin, northwest England, an area for which quantitative faecal indicator source apportionment empirical data and land use information were also collected.

Reply to comments on "Derivation of numerical values for the World Health Organization guidelines for recreational waters".

The contribution addressed reveals an optimistic design philosophy likely to systematically underestimate risk in epidemiologic studies into the health effects of bathing water exposures. The authors seem to recommend that data on the 'exposure' measure (i.e.

Sustainable reduction in the flux of microbial compliance parameters from urban and arable land use to coastal bathing waters by a wetland ecosystem produced by a marine flood defence structure.

'Natural' treatment systems such as wetlands and reed beds have been proposed as sustainable means of reducing fluxes of faecal indicator organisms (FIOs) to recreational and shellfish harvesting waters. This is because FIO fluxes to coastal waters from both point (effluent) and diffuse (catchment) sources can cause non-compliance with microbiological standards for bathing and shellfish harvesting waters. The Water Framework Directive requires competent authorities in the member states to manage both point and diffuse sources of FIOs in an integrated manner to achieve compliance with 'good' water quality as defined in a series of daughter Directives.

Derivation of numerical values for the World Health Organization guidelines for recreational waters.

In April 2001, draft 'Guidelines' for safe recreational water environments were developed at a World Health Organization (WHO) expert consultation. Later the same month, these were presented and discussed at the 'Green Week' in Brussels alongside the on-going revision of the European Union Bathing Water Directive 76/160/EEC. The WHO Guidelines cover general aspects of recreational water management as well as define water quality criteria for various hazards.

Faecal-indicator concentrations in waters draining lowland pastoral catchments in the UK: relationships with land use and farming practices.

Faecal-indicator budget studies have shown marine bathing water quality at two small UK coastal resorts, Staithes and Newport, to be adversely affected by riverine inputs from lowland pastoral catchments (J. Chartered Inst. Water Environ.