Inter-Event and Intra-Event Variations of Indicator Bacteria Concentrations in the Storm Sewer System of the City of Östersund, Sweden
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 142, Issue 7
Abstract
An episode of microbiological contamination of the drinking water supply of the City of Östersund, Sweden (63°10′45″N; 14°38′09″E) prompted a study of fecal pollution in four storm drainage catchments discharging in the vicinity of the water treatment plant intake, with the overall aim of determining the presence and variation of standard fecal indicator bacteria strains and total suspended solids (TSS) in stormwater from urban catchments with specific land uses and sizes varying from 5 to 40 ha. Four bacteria strains used as indicators of fecal pollution in Sweden were studied: total coliforms, enterococci, Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens). In dry weather, indicator bacteria concentrations in storm sewers conveying baseflow did not exceed , but during wet weather, total coliform and enterococci concentrations increased to times, compared to those in baseflow, and considerably less in the case of E. coli and C. perfringens. Bacteria concentrations differed significantly among the sampling sites and in the majority of events observed in the four catchments; higher bacteria concentrations were observed during the early phases of runoff. Only in one catchment, positive correlations were observed between TSS and total coliforms, E. coli, and enterococci, suggesting similar sources; in the remaining catchments, no such correlations were observed. The collected indicator bacteria data represent a useful addition to the available data on indicator bacteria in stormwater in cold-climate regions.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the staff at the Östersund municipality and Luleå University of Technology who helped with sample collection and analyses. This study was conducted as an activity of the research cluster Dag&Nät; the financial support of the cluster by the Swedish Water and Wastewater Association and the Östersund municipality is gratefully acknowledged.
References
Brezonik, P. L., and Stadelmann, T. H. (2002). “Analysis and predictive models of stormwater runoff volumes, loads, and pollutant concentrations from watersheds in the Twin Cities Metropolitan area, Minnesota, USA.” Water Res., 36(7), 1743–1757.
Coulliette, A. D., and Noble, R. T. (2008). “Impacts of rainfall on the water quality of the Newport River Estuary (eastern North Carolina, USA).” J. Water Health, 6(4), 473–482.
Desai, A. M., and Rifai, H. S. (2010). “Variability of Escherichia coli concentrations in an urban watershed in Texas.” J. Environ. Eng., 1347–1359.
EC (European Community). (1975a). “75/440/EEC of 16 June 1975 concerning the quality required of surface water intended for the abstraction of drinking water in the Member States.”.
EC (European Community). (1975b). “76/160/EEC of 8 December 1975 concerning the quality of bathing water.”.
EC (European Community). (1998). “98/83/EC of 3 November 1998 on the quality of water intended for human consumption.”.
Galfi, H., Nordqvist, K., Sundelin, M., Blecken, G.-T., Marsalek, J., and Viklander, M. (2014). “Comparison of indicator bacteria concentrations obtained by automated and manual sampling of urban stormwater runoff.” Water Air Soil Pollut., 225(9), 2065.
Hathaway, J. M., and Hunt, W. F. (2011). “Evaluation of first flush for indicator bacteria and total suspended solids in urban stormwater runoff.” Water Air Soil Pollut., 217(1–4), 135–147.
Hathaway, J. M., Hunt, W. F., and Simmons, O. D. (2010). “Statistical evaluation of factors affecting indicator bacteria in urban storm-water runoff.” J. Environ. Eng., 1360–1368.
ISO (International Standardization Organization). (1986). “Water quality—Detection and enumeration of the spores of sulfite-reducing anaerobes (Clostridia). 2: Method by membrane filtration.” ISO 6461-2, Geneva.
ISO (International Standardization Organization). (2000a). “Water quality—Detection and enumeration of Escherichia coli and coliform bacteria. 1: Membrane filtration method.” ISO 9308-1, Geneva.
ISO (International Standardization Organization). (2000b). “Water quality—Detection and enumeration of intestinal enterococci. 2: Membrane filtration method.” ISO 7899-2, Geneva.
Jeng, H. A. C., Englande, A. J., Bakeer, R. M., and Bradford, H. B. (2005). “Impact of urban stormwater runoff on estuarine environmental quality.” Estuarine Coastal Shelf Sci., 63(4), 513–526.
Marsalek, J. (1976). “Simulation of quality of urban drainage effluents.” Proc., Irrigation and Drainage Specialty Conf., ASCE, New York, 564–580.
McCarthy, D. T. (2009). “A traditional first flush assessment of E. coli in urban stormwater runoff.” Water Sci. Technol., 60(11), 2749–2757.
McCarthy, D. T., Hathaway, J. M., Hunt, W. F., and Deletic, A. (2012). “Intra-event variability of Escherichia coli and total suspended solids in urban stormwater runoff.” Water Res., 46, 6661–6670.
McFeters, G. A., Bissonnette, G. K., and Jezeski, J. J. (1974). “Comparative survival of indicator bacteria and enteric pathogens in well water.” Appl. Microbiol., 27(5), 823–829.
Rowny, J. G., and Stewart, J. R. (2012). “Characterization of nonpoint source microbial contamination in an urbanizing watershed serving as a municipal water supply.” Water Res., 46(18), 6143–6153.
Saget, A., Chebbo, G., and Bertrand-Krajewski, J. (1996). “The first flush in sewer system.” Water Sci. Technol., 33(9), 101–108.
Selvakumar, A., and Borst, M. (2006). “Variation of microorganism concentrations in urban stormwater runoff with land use and seasons.” J. Water Health, 4(1), 109–124.
SIS (Swedish Standard Institute). (1996). “Coliform bacteria, thermotolerant coliform bacteria and Escherichia coli in water—Determination with the membrane filtration method (MF).”, Stockholm, Sweden.
SIS (Swedish Standard Institute). (2005). “Water quality—Determination of suspended solids—Method by filtration through glass fibre filters.”, Stockholm, Sweden.
Tiefenthaler, L., Stein, E. D., and Schiff, K. C. (2011). “Levels and patterns of fecal indicator bacteria in stormwater runoff from homogenous land use sites and urban watersheds.” J. Water Health, 9(2), 279–290.
Van Donsel, D. J., Geldreich, E. E., and Clarke, N. A. (1967). “Seasonal variations in survival of indicator bacteria in soil and their contribution to storm-water pollution.” Appl. Microbiol., 15(6), 1362–1370.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 30, 2013
Accepted: Oct 2, 2015
Published online: Feb 22, 2016
Published in print: Jul 1, 2016
Discussion open until: Jul 22, 2016
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.