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Modeling the photoinactivation and transport of somatic and f+ coliphages at a great lakes beach
Citation:
Safaie, A., C. Weiskerger, T. Nguyen, Brad Acrey, R. Zepp, M. Molina, M. Cyterski, G. Whelan, Y. Pachepsky, AND M. Phanikumar. Modeling the photoinactivation and transport of somatic and f+ coliphages at a great lakes beach. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY. American Society of Agronomy, MADISON, WI, 49(6):1612-1623, (2020). https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20153
Impact/Purpose:
Freshwater beaches in the Great Lakes region provide recreational opportunities for millions of residents and visitors and represent considerable economic value. Microbiological water quality at these beaches can be impacted by various sources and activities including stormwater runoff, contaminant plumes originating from freshwater estuaries draining into the lakes, agricultural activities, and urban sources such as publicly owned treatment works. Fecal indicator organisms (FIOs) such as E. coli and enterococci are often used as indicators of contamination and to aid beach management (e.g., beach closure, issue advisories, etc.). The weak association between traditional FIOs and pathogens is well-known, and bacteriophages may have advantages due to their similarity to viral pathogens in size and environmental persistence. Although mechanistic modeling of FIOs received attention in the past, efforts to model viruses and bacteriophages in the environment have been limited. We describe development and application of a fate and transport model of somatic and F-specific bacteriophages for the Washington Park beach at Lake Michigan.
Description:
Fecal indicator organisms (FIOs), such as E. coli and enterococci, are often used as surrogates of contamination in the context of beach management; however, bacteriophages may be more reliable indicators than FIO due to their similarity to viral pathogens in terms of size and persistence in the environment. In the past, mechanistic modeling of environmental contamination has focused on FIO, with virus and bacteriophage modeling efforts remaining limited. In this paper, we describe the development and application of a fate and transport model of somatic and F+ coliphages for the Washington Park beach in Lake Michigan which is impacted by riverine outputs from the nearby Trail Creek. A three‐dimensional model of coliphage transport and photoinactivation is tested and compared with a previously reported E. coli fate and transport model. The light‐based inactivation of the phages was modeled using organism‐specific action spectra. Results indicate that the coliphage models outperformed the E. coli model, in terms of reliably predicting observed E. coli/coliphage concentrations at the beach. This is possibly due to the presence of additional E. coli sources that were not accounted for in the modeling. The coliphage models can be used to test hypotheses about potential sources and their behavior and for predictive modeling.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: Modeling the photoinactivation and transport of somatic and f+ coliphages at a great lakes beach
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