title: To swim or not to swim? A disagreement between microbial indicators on beach water quality assessment in Hong Kong.
abstract: The USEPA and the WHO now advocate the use of enterococci as indicators for marine water quality. This study investigated the outcomes for Hong Kong beach water quality assessment by comparing enterococcus measures with data from the HKEPD's monitoring programme. Six beaches were tested once every 2-3 months from November 2013 to June 2014 in order to identify the most contaminated sites, followed by intensive water sampling in sites found to have the highest enterococci densities (Clear Water Bay Second and Golden) every five to six days for six sampling events over a 30-day period in 2014. The geometric means of enterococci were found to be 124 and 41 cfu/100 mL at Clear Water Bay Second and Golden respectively, indicating that there may be higher risks of illness associated with swimming at both beaches than previously known. Moreover, beach sediments contained higher concentrations of enterococci than water, and warrant further study.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
authors.forename: Pui Kwan
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
authors.forename: Ka Lai
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Yuen
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
authors.forename: Ping Fai
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
authors.forename: Wai Hing
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
authors.forename: Chung Man
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
authors.forename: Suet Wai
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Yuen
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Electronic address: dmbaker@hku.hk.
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Baker
mesh_terms: D001493:Bathing Beaches / Q000592:standards*; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000254:growth & development*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D006723:Hong Kong; D013550:Swimming; D014871:Water Microbiology / Q000592:standards*; D060753:Water Quality / Q000592:standards*
keywords: Beach water quality; E. coli; Enterococci; Faecal indicator bacteria; Sewage