title: Modelling the fate and transport of faecal bacteria in estuarine and coastal waters.
abstract: This paper details a numerical model developed to predict the fate and transport of faecal bacteria in receiving surface waters. The model was first validated by comparing model predicted faecal bacteria concentrations with available field measurements. The model simulations agreed well with the observation data. After calibration, the model was applied to investigate the effects of different parameters, including: tidal processes, river discharges from the upstream boundaries and bacteria inputs from the upstream boundaries, wastewater treatment works (WwTWs), rivers and combined sewer overflows (CSO), on the concentrations of faecal bacteria in the Ribble Estuary. The results revealed that the tide and upstream boundary bacteria inputs were the primary factors controlling the distribution of faecal bacteria. The bacteria inputs from the WwTWs in the model domain were generally found not to have a significant impact on distribution of faecal bacteria in the estuary.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China. Electronic address: gaoguanghai@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Guanghai
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Cardiff School of Engineering, Cardiff University, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK.
authors.forename: Roger A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Falconer
authors.affiliation: Cardiff School of Engineering, Cardiff University, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK; State Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Binliang
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria; D001493:Bathing Beaches; D063366:Estuaries; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D062070:Hydrology / Q000379:methods; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011998:Recreation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D045483:Rivers / Q000382:microbiology; D006113:United Kingdom; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods; D062065:Wastewater / Q000382:microbiology; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D062065:Wastewater
keywords: Decay rate; Faecal bacteria; Numerical modelling; Sediment transport; Water quality model