Microbial risk assessment of urban water bodies for aesthetical and recreational uses

• Published in: Huanjing kexue Vol. 34; no. 3; p. 933
• Main Authors: Sun, Fu, Sha, Jing, Zhang, Yi-Fan, Liu, Yan-Hua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Chinese
• Published: China 01-03-2013
• Subjects: China; Cities; Enterobacteriaceae - isolation & purification; Environmental Exposure - analysis; Environmental Monitoring; Escherichia coli - isolation & purification; Feces - microbiology; Public Health; Recreation; Risk Assessment; Swimming Pools - standards; Water Microbiology - standards; Water Pollution - adverse effects; Water Pollution - statistics & numerical data; China
• ISSN: 0250-3301

With the increasing public access to urban water bodies for aesthetical and recreational purposes, it is of critical importance for densely populated urban areas to conduct microbial risk assessment and accordingly implement effective risk management. Based on the methodology of quantitative microbial risk assessment, a case study was conducted on three typical urban water bodies for aesthetical and recreational uses in a southern city in China. Exposure assessment was carried out through water quality monitoring, field survey and literature review, and accordingly human health risk was assessed with different dose-response equations based on fecal coliforms (FC), Escherichia coli (EC) and Enterococci (ENT). Microbial risk estimated by different dose-response equations was found consistent with and comparable to each other. Stream B located in a residential area was not suitable for primary- or secondary-contact recreational uses, and its microbial risk to the public mainly came from water abstraction for hou