Factors Influencing the Accumulation and Subsurface Transport of Fecal Indicator Bacteria near the Shoreline at Freshwater Beaches

Abstract:

Beach sand near the shoreline acts as a reservoir for fecal contaminants with fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) often orders of magnitude higher than in adjacent surface waters. This reservoir poses a human health risk and can also act as an important non-point contamination source for surface waters. Beach water quality advisories or closures can be issued when FIB (Escherichia coli (E. coli), enterococci (ENT)) concentrations are elevated in the surface water. The factors controlling the transport and accumulation of FIB in the foreshore sand are not well understood, though this is required to manage and mitigate this source. Multiple sources may contribute to the accumulation of FIB in sand, with recent studies suggesting that the continuous influx of surface water across the sediment-water interface may be a dominant source at many beaches.

The study objective was to develop understanding of the physical processes controlling the accumulation and transport of FIB in beach sand. Field measurements were combined with numerical modelling to evaluate the role of low-energy lapping waves in delivering FIB to the saturated foreshore sand at freshwater beaches. E. coli and ENT were measured at two beaches in Ontario, Canada at depths of up to 1 and 2 m, respectively, below the water table. A numerical model simulating wave-induced groundwater recirculations coupled with microbial transport (using colloid filtration theory) showed that the different FIB distributions measured at the two beaches was due mainly to the different beach slope and terrestrial groundwater flow. The model was applied to assess the impact of beach, wave and bacterial parameters on FIB accumulation. The infiltration zone width, average infiltration velocity and infiltration rate were shown to ultimately control the amount and spatial distribution of FIB in the sand. The study findings are important in understanding factors controlling the transport of FIB at the sediment-water interface of freshwater lakes.