River sediment/pathogen interactions: Importance for policy development on safe water practices

The transport and fate of pathogenic pollutants are shown to be highly influenced by their strong relationship with suspended and bed sediment particles. As such, pathogen dynamics are strongly linked to the sediment dynamics of a system. Extracellular polymeric substances, although insignificant in terms of organic mass, are shown to be an integral part of the floe and contribute to the retention of microorganisms in the environment and may play an important role in the binding of pathogens. Implications of sediment pathogen interactions on policy development for safe water practices are discussed.