Usefulness of indicator organisms as pathogen surrogates in an urban watershed

摘要

Indicator organisms are generally considered appropriate surrogates for waterborne pathogens in monitoring efforts if their incidence in receiving waters is correlated to the presence of these pathogens; however, accurate prediction of downstream health risks via modeling exercises also requires that these indicators exhibit similar transport behavior. Despite recent interest in the association of indicator organisms with stormwater particles and resultant accelerated sedimentation, there have been no field-scale studies simultaneously comparing indicator organism and pathogen partitioning into free and particle-associated phases. Differences in behavior may suggest the need for a re-assessment of modeling techniques using only traditional indicators.