title: Assessing the water quality response to an alternative sewage disposal strategy at bathing sites on the east coast of Ireland.
abstract: A three-dimensional model is used to assess the bathing water quality of Bray and Killiney bathing sites in Ireland following changes to the sewage management system. The model, firstly calibrated to hydrodynamic and water quality data from the period prior to the upgrade of the Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTW), was then used to simulate Escherichia coli (E. coli) distributions for discharge scenarios of the periods prior to and following the upgrade of the WwTW under dry and wet weather conditions. E. coli distributions under dry weather conditions demonstrate that the upgrade in the WwTW has remarkably improved the bathing water quality to a Blue Flag status. The new discharge strategy is expected to drastically reduce the rainfall-related incidents in which environmental limits of the Bathing Water Directive are breached. However, exceedances to these limits may still occur under wet weather conditions at Bray bathing site due to storm overflows that may still be discharged through two sea outfalls offshore of Bray bathing site.
authors.affiliation: Dooge Centre for Water Resources Research, School of Civil, Structural, and Environmental Engineering, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. Electronic address: zeinab.bedri@ucd.ie.
authors.forename: Zeinab
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Bedri
authors.affiliation: Dooge Centre for Water Resources Research, School of Civil, Structural, and Environmental Engineering, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: O'Sullivan
authors.affiliation: School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Louise A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Deering
authors.affiliation: School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Katalin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Demeter
authors.affiliation: School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Bartholomew
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Masterson
authors.affiliation: School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Wim G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Meijer
authors.affiliation: Clarity Centre, UCD School of Computer Science and Informatics, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: O'Hare
mesh_terms: D001493:Bathing Beaches / Q000592:standards*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000302:isolation & purification; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D007494:Ireland; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D014871:Water Microbiology; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*; D060753:Water Quality
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage
keywords: Bathing water quality; Escherichia coli; Sewage discharges; Three-dimensional model