You are here:
HEALTH EFFECTS CRITERIA FOR FRESH RECREATIONAL WATERS
Citation:
Dufour, A. HEALTH EFFECTS CRITERIA FOR FRESH RECREATIONAL WATERS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/1-84/004 (NTIS PB85150878).
Description:
A criterion for the quality of the bathing water, based upon swimming-associated gastrointestinal illness, was developed from data obtained during a multi-year freshwater epidemiological-microbiological research program conducted at bathing beaches near Erie, Pennsylvania and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Three bacterial indicators of fecal pollution were used to measure the water quality, E. coli, enterococci and fecal coliforms. A good correlation was observed between swimming-associated gastrointestinal symptoms and either E. coli or enterococci densities in the water. Fecal coliform densities showed little or no correlation to gastrointestinal illness rates in swimmers.