Predictor-Independent Linear Models Relating Lognormally Distributed Escherichia coli and Fecal Coliforms
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 141, Issue 1
Abstract
Following an EPA recommendation many states switched to Escherichia coli (EC) water-quality standards. However, past data is still in terms of fecal coliforms (FC). EC-FC models are therefore necessary to understand long-term water-quality trends. The predominant method develops a linear relationship between log EC and log FC by minimizing the errors of log EC. These models are difficult to interpret as they are nonlinear. This method also leads to biased model coefficients as log FC is assumed to be error free. The present study develops linear models that do not require predictor identification. The models were developed by minimizing the errors in the logarithmic domain. Linear and log-log models with and without predictor identification were developed for EC-FC data from 10 sites in the lower Passaic River at Paterson, New Jersey. The Nash-Sutcliffe efficiencies (NSEs) of all model types are similar. The authors recommend the use of linear models that do not require predictor identification due to ease of interpretation and better estimate of the true relationship between EC and FC.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) for funding the project that resulting in the data and work presented.
References
Akasapu, M., and Ormsbee, L. (2011). Relationship between fecal coliform and E. coli within Kentucky River basin, World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, Palm Springs, CA.
American Public Health Association (APHA), American Water Works Association, and Water Environment Federation (WEF). (1999). Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 20th Ed., Washington, DC.
Babu, G. J., and Feigelson, E. D. (1992). “Analytical and Monte Carlo comparisons of six different linear least squares fits.” Commun. Stat. Simul. Comput., 21(2), 533–549.
Bass, D., and Reinmund, A. (1999). Bacteria study on the Tres Palacios River, Lower Colorado River Authority, Austin, TX.
Chapra, S. C. (1997). Surface water-quality modeling, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Cude, C. G. (2005). “Accommodating change of bacterial indicators in long term water quality datasets.” J. Am. Water Resour. Assoc., 41(1), 47–54.
Draper, N. R., and Smith, H. (1998). Applied regression analysis, 3rd Ed., Wiley-Interscience, New York.
EPA. (1986). Ambient water quality criteria—1986, Washington, DC.
EPA. (2000). Total maximum daily load (TMDL) for fecal coliform bacteria in the waters of Duck Creek in Mendenhall Valley, Alaska, Seattle.
EPA. (2002). Method 1603: Escherechia coli (E. coli) in water by membrane filtration using modified membrane-thermotolerant Escherechia coli agar (modified mTEC), Washington, DC.
EPA. (2012). Fecal bacteria, 〈http://water.epa.gov/type/rsl/monitoring/vms511.cfm〉 (Jul. 6, 2012).
Francy, D. S., Myers, D. N., and Metzker, K. D. (1992). Escherichia Coli and fecal-coliform bacteria as indicators of recreational water quality, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver.
Jagupilla, S. C. K., Vaccari, D. A., and Miskewitz, R. (2013a). “Adjusting error calculation to account for temporal mismatch in evaluating models.” J. Hydrol. Eng., 1186–1193.
Jagupilla, S. C. K., Vaccari, D. A., Miskewitz, R., Su, T. L., and Hires, R. I. (2013b). Total maximum daily load for pathogens for 3 HUC watersheds in the lower Passaic River, New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection, Trenton, NJ.
McArdle, B. H. (2003). “Lines, models, and errors: Regression in the field.” Limnol. Oceanogr., 48(3), 1363–1366.
Moriasi, D. N., et al. (2007). “Model evaluation guidelines for systematic quantification of accuracy in watershed simulations.” Trans. ASABE, 50(3), 885–900.
Nash, J. E., and Sutcliffe, J. V. (1970). “River flow forecasting through conceptual models—Part 1: A discussion of principles.” J. Hydrol., 10(3), 282–290.
Novotny, V. (2004). “Simplified databased total maximum daily loads, or the world is log-normal.” J. Environ. Eng., 674–683 .
Ohio EPA. (2009). Total maximum daily loads for the Yellow Creek Watershed, Division of Surface Water, State of Ohio, Environmental Protection Agency, Columbus, OH.
Omole, D. O., Longe, E. O., and Musa, A. G. (2013). “An approach to reaeration coefficient modeling in local surface water quality monitoring.” Environ. Model. Assess., 18(1), 85–94.
Swamee, P. K., and Ojha, C. S. P. (1990). “Pump test analysis of leaky aquifer.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 645–655.
Vaccari, D. A., Strom, P. F., and Alleman, J. E. (2006). Environmental biology for engineers and scientists, 1st Ed., Wiley, Hoboken, NJ.
Virginia TMDL. (2003). “HSPF model calibration and verification for bacteria TMDLs.” Guidance Memo No. 03-2012, Commonwealth of Virginia, Dept. of Environmental Quality, Water Division, Richmond, VA.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 141 • Issue 1 • January 2015
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 11, 2013
Accepted: Jul 11, 2014
Published online: Aug 13, 2014
Published in print: Jan 1, 2015
Discussion open until: Jan 13, 2015
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.