Spatial and temporal variability of fecal indicator bacteria in an urban stream under different meteorological regimes.
As a representative urban stream in Korea, the Gwangju (GJ) stream suffers from chronic fecal contamination. In this study, to characterize levels of fecal pollution in the GJ stream, the monthly monitoring data for seven years (from 2001 to 2007) and the hourly monitoring data from two field experiments were examined with respect to seasonal/daily variations and spatial distribution under wet and dry weather conditions. This research revealed that concentrations of fecal indicator bacteria strongly varied depending on the prevalent meteorological conditions. That is, during the dry daytime, fecal indicator bacteria concentrations decreased due to inactivation from solar irradiation, but rapidly increased in the absence of sunlight, suggesting external source inputs. In addition, bacterial concentrations substantially increased during rainfall events, due probably to a major contribution from combined sewer overflow. The observations in this study can be useful for implementing fecal pollution management strategies and for predicting fecal contamination as a function of meteorological conditions.
Cha
Sung Min
SM
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), 261 Cheomdan-gwagiro, Buk-gu, Gwangju 500-712, South Korea.
Lee
Seung Won
SW
Park
Yong Eun
YE
Cho
Kyung Hwa
KH
Lee
Seungyoon
S
Kim
Joon Ha
JH
D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000382:microbiology; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D055904:Meteorology; D045483:Rivers / Q000382:microbiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014505:Urban Population; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014881:Water Supply / Q000592:standards*