Dynamic Existence of Waterborne Pathogens within River Sediment Compartments. Implications for Water Quality Regulatory Affairs

The transport and fate of indicator E. coli and Salmonella are shown to be highly influenced by their relationship with flocculated suspended and bed sediment particles. Flocs were found to dominate the suspended sediment load and have the effect of increasing the downward flux of the sediment to the river bed. Bacteria counts were consistently higher within sediment compartments (suspended and bed) than for the water alone, with the bed …