Modeling Fecal Coliform Bacteria Levels at Gulf Coast Beaches | Exposure and Health Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Modeling Fecal Coliform Bacteria Levels at Gulf Coast Beaches

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Water Quality, Exposure and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study presents and compares two models for predicting fecal coliform levels at Gulf Coast beaches in Louisiana, USA. One was developed using the artificial neural network (ANN) in MATLAB toolbox and the other one was developed based on the multiple linear regression method (MLR). A total of six independent environmental variables, including rainfall, tide, wind, salinity, temperature, and weather type along with eight different combinations of the independent variables are capable of explaining about 76 % of variation in fecal coliform levels for model training data and 44 % for independent data. The findings are obtained from the ANN model and the MLR model using six years of bacteriological and environmental monitoring data. The results show that the ANN model performs consistently better than the MLR model. Applications of the ANN model can significantly reduce potential health risks of fecal pollution to beachgoers. The paper provides new insights into environmental processes responsible for the variation in levels of fecal coliform bacteria in coastal beach waters as well.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
¥17,985 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (Japan)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahammed M, Chaudhuri M (1996) Sand-based filtration/adsorption media. J Water Supply Res Technol [AQUA] 45(2):67–71

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • An YJ, Kampbell DH, Peter Breidenbach G (2002) Escherichia coli and total coliforms in water and sediments at lake marinas. Environ Pollut 120(3):771–778

  • Anderson KL, Whitlock JE, Harwood VJ (2005) Persistence and differential survival of fecal indicator bacteria in subtropical waters and sediments. Appl Environ Microbiol 71(6):3041–3048

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Boehm AB, Keymer DP, Shellenbarger GG (2005) An analytical model of enterococci inactivation, grazing, and transport in the surf zone of marine beach. Water Res 39:3565–3578

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Boehm AB, Grant SB, Kim JH, Mowbray SL, McGee CD, Clark CD, Foley DM, Wellman DE (2002) Decadal and shorter period variability of surf zone water quality at Huntington Beach, California. Environ Sci Technol 36:3885–3892

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burkhardt W, Calci KR, Watkins WD, Rippey SR, Chirtel SJ (2000) Inactivation of indicator microorganisms in estuarine waters. Water Res 34(8):2207–2214

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carrillo M, Estrada E, Hazen TC (1985) Survival and enumeration of the fecal indicators Bifidobacterium adolescentis and Escherichia coli in a tropical rain forest watershed. Appl Environ Microbiol 50(2):468–476

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chambers MK, Ford MR, White DM, Barnes DL, Schiewer S (2008) Distribution and transport of fecal bacteria at Spring Thaw in a Rural Alaskan Community. J Cold Reg Eng (ASCE) 22(1):16–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chenier KM, Gutierrez-Wing MT, Deng Z-Q, Rusch KA (2012) Environmental factors influencing the abundance of Enterococci in Gulf Coast beach waters. ASCE J Environ Eng 138(11):1130–1137

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chigbu P, Gordon S, Strange TR (2005) Fecal coliform bacteria disappearance rates in a north-central Gulf of Mexico estuary. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 65(1–2):309–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark CD, O’Connor AP, Foley DM, de Bruyn WJ (2007) A study of fecal coliform sources at a coastal site using colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) as a water source tracer. Mar Pollut Bull 54(9):1507–1513

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Crabill C, Donald R, Snelling J, Foust R, Southam G (1999) The impact of sediment fecal coliform reservoirs on seasonal water quality in Oak Creek. Arizona. Water Res 33(9):2163–2171

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Craig DL, Fallowfield HJ, Cromar NJ (2004) Use of microcosms to determine persistence of Escherichia coli in recreational coastal water and sediment and validation with in situ measurements. J Appl Microbiol 96(5):922–930

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Davies C, Long J, Donald M, Ashbolt N (1995) Survival of fecal microorganisms in marine and freshwater sediments. Appl Environ Microbiol 61(5):1888–1896

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Durán AE, Muniesa M, Méndez X, Valero F, Lucena F, Jofre J (2002) Removal and inactivation of indicator bacteriophages in fresh waters. J Appl Microbiol 92(2):338–347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elmir SM, Wright ME, Abdelzaher A, Solo-Gabriele HM, Fleming LE, Miller G, Rybolowik M, Peter Shih M-T, Pillai SP, Cooper JA, Quaye EA (2007) Quantitative evaluation of bacteria released by bathers in a marine water. Water Res 41(1):3–10

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Evanson M, Ambrose RF (2006) Sources and growth dynamics of fecal indicator bacteria in a coastal wetland system and potential impacts to adjacent waters. Water Res 40(3):475–486

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Francy DS, Darner RA (2006) Procedures for developing models to predict exceedances of recreational water-quality standards at coastal beaches: U.S. geological survey techniques and methods 6–B5, pp 1–28

  • Frick WE, Ge Z, Zepp RG (2008) Nowcasting and forecasting concentrations of biological contaminants at beaches: a feasibility and case study. Environ Sci Technol 42:4818–4824

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fries JS, Characklis GW, Noble RT (2006) Attachment of fecal indicator bacteria to particles in the Neuse River Estuary, N.C. J Environ Eng 132(10):1338–1345

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ge Z, Whitman RL, Nevers MB, Phanikumar MS (2012) Wave-induced mass transport affects daily Escherichia coli fluctuations in nearshore water. Environ Sci Technol 46(4):2204–2211

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ge Z, Frick WE (2007) Some statistical issues related to multiple linear regression modeling of beach bacteria concentrations. Environ Res 103(3):358–364

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gonzalez RA, Conn KE, Crosswell JR, Noble RT (2012) Application of empirical predictive modeling using conventional and alternative fecal indicator bacteriain eastern North Carolina waters. Water Res 46:5871–5886

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grant SB, Sanders BF (2010) Beach boundary layer: a framework for addressing recreational water quality impairment at enclosed beaches. Environ Sci Technol 44(23):8804–8813

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Haller L, Pote’ J, Loizeau JL, Wildi W (2009) Distribution and survival of faecal indicator bacteria in the sediments of the Bay of Vidy, Lake Geneva, Switzerland. Ecol Indic 9:54 0–54 7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halliday E, Gast RJ (2011) Bacteria in beach sands: an emerging challenge in protecting coastal water quality and bather health. Environ Sci Technol 45(2):370–379

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hanes NB, Fragala R (1967) Effect of seawater concentration on survival of indicator bacteria. J Water Pollut Control Fed 39(1):97–104

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • He LM, He ZL (2008) Water quality prediction of marine recreational beaches receiving watershed baseflow and stormwater runoff in southern California, USA. Water Res 42(10–11):2563–2573

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kashefipour SM, Lin B, Falconer RA (2002) Hydro-environmental modeling for bathing water compliance of an esturine basin. Water Res 36:1854–1868

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Keiner LE, Yah XH (1998) A neural network model for estimating sea surface chlorophyll and sediments from thematic mapper imagery. Remote Sens Environ 66:153–165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim JH, Grant SB, McGee CD, Sanders BF, Largier JH (2004) Locating sources of surfzone pollution: a mass budget analysis of fecal indicator bacteria at Huntington Beach, California. Environ Sci Technol 38:2626–2636

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kurissery S, Kanavillil N, Verenitchb S, Mazumderb A (2012) Caffeine as an anthropogenic marker of domestic waste: a study from Lake Simcoe watershed. Ecol Indic 23:501–508

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lin B, Syed M, Falconer RA (2008) Predicting fecal indicator levels in estuarine receiving waters: an integrated hydrodynamic and ANN modeling approach. Environ Model Softw 23:729–740

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • López I, Álvarez C, Gi Luis lJ, García A, Bárcena JF, Revilla JA (2013) A method for the source apportionment in bathing waters through the modeling of wastewater discharges: development of an indicator and application to an urban beach in Santander (Northern Spain). Ecol Indic 24:334–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGuigan KG, Joyce TM, Conroy RM, Gillespie JB, Elmore-Meegan M (1998) Solar disinfection of drinking water contained in transparent plastic bottles: characterizing the bacterial inactivation process. J Appl Microbiol 84(6):1138–1148

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moore D, Ferguson D, Gonzalez EJ (2004) OC public health laboratory, final report, San Juan Creek watershed bacterial study (2001–2003) (Chaps 1 and 2). www.ochealthinfo.com/public/lab. Accessed 6 Sept 2012

  • Nevers MB, Whitman RL (2005) Nowcast modeling of Escherichia coli concentrations at multiple urban beaches of southern Lake Michigan. Water Res 39(20):5250–5260

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nevers MB, Whitman RL (2008) Coastal strategies to predict Escherichia coli concentrations for beaches along a 35 km stretch of southern Lake Michigan. Environ Sci Technol 42(12):4454–4460

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nevers MB, Whitman RL (2011) Efficacy of monitoring and empirical predictive modeling at improving public health protection at Chicago beaches. Water Res 45(4):1659–1668

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Noble RT, Fuhrman JA (2001) Enteroviruses detected by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction from the coastal waters of Santa Monica Bay, California: low correlation to bacterial indicator levels. Hydrobiologia 460:175–184

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Noble RT, Lee IM, Schiff KC (2004) Inactivation of indicator micro-organisms from various sources of fecal contamination in seawater and freshwater. J Appl Microbiol 96(3):464–472

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nyström T (2004) Stationary-phase physiology. Annu Rev Microbiol 58(1):161–181

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Obiri-Danso K, Jones K (2000) Intertidal sediments as reservoirs for hippurate negative campylobacters, salmonellae and faecal indicators in three EU recognised bathing waters in North West England. Water Res 34(2):519–527

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pandey PK, Soupir ML, Haddad M, Rothwell JJ (2012) Assessing the impacts of watershed indexes and precipitation on spatial in-stream E. coli concentrations. Ecol Indic 23:641–652

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reeves RL, Grant SB, Mrse RD, Sanders BF, Boehm AB (2004) Scaling and management of fecal indicator bacteria in runoff from a coastal urban watershed in Southern California. Environ Sci Technol 38:2637–2648

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roper MM, Marshall KC (1977) Effects of a clay mineral on microbial predation and parasitism of Escherichia coli. Microb Ecol 4(4):279–289

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sinton LW, Hall CH, Lynch PA, Davies-Colley RJ (2002) Sunlight inactivation of fecal indicator bacteria and bacteriophages from waste stabilization pond effluent in fresh and saline waters. Appl Environ Microbiol 68(3):1122–1131

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Solo-Gabriele HM, Wolfert MA, Desmarais TR, Palmer CJ (2000) Sources of Escherichia coli in a coastal subtropical environment. Appl Environ Microbiol 66(1):230–237

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Srinivas M, Dominic LB (2012) Development of a neural-based forecasting tool to classify recreational water quality using fecal indicator organisms. Water Res 46(14):4508–4520

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thupaki P, Phanikumar MS, Beletsky D, Schwab DJ, Nevers MB, Whitman RL (2010) Budget analysis of Escherichia coli at a southern Lake Michigan beach. Environ Sci Technol 44:1010–1016

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • US Environmental Protection Agency (2000) Improved enumeration methods for the recreational water quality indicators: Enterococci and Escherichia coli. US EPA Office of Science and Technology, Washington DC, 20460, EPA/821/R-97/004

  • Zhang Z, Deng Z-Q, Rusch KA (2012) Development of predictive models for determining Enterococci levels at Gulf Coast beaches. Water Res 46(2):465–474. doi:10.1016/j.watres.2011.11.027

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu X, Wang JD, Solo-Gabriele HM, Fleming LE (2011) A water quality modeling study of non-point sources at recreational marine beaches. Water Res 45:2985–2995

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The material is based upon work supported by the US NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) under award No. NNX09AR62G and the Beach Monitoring Program of Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

    Zaihong Zhang, Zhiqiang Deng & Kelly A. Rusch

Authors
  1. Zaihong Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  2. Zhiqiang Deng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kelly A. Rusch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zhiqiang Deng.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhang, Z., Deng, Z. & Rusch, K.A. Modeling Fecal Coliform Bacteria Levels at Gulf Coast Beaches. Water Qual Expo Health 7, 255–263 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12403-014-0145-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12403-014-0145-3

Keywords