Modelling of enterobacterial loads to the Baie des Veys (Normandy, France)

摘要

The Baie des Veys (Normandy, France) has abundant stocks of shellfish (oyster and cockle farms). Water quality in the bay is affected by pollutant inputs from a 3500 km(2) watershed and notably occasional episodes of contamination by faecal coliforms. In order to characterise enterobacterial loads and develop a plan of action to improve the quality of seawater and shellfish in the bay, a two-stage modelling procedure was adopted. This focused on Escherichia coli and included a catchment model describing the E. coli releases, and the transport and die-off of this bacteria up to the coast. The output from this model then served as input for a marine model used to determine the concentration of E. colt in seawater.