Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Microbiological safety of popular recreation swimming sites in Central California

  • Published:
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The objective of the study was to assess the microbiological safety of popular recreational swimming sites in Central California. Water samples were collected from eleven monitoring sites across the lower reaches of two watersheds for two consecutive swimming seasons (2012–2013), and levels of indicator and pathogenic microorganisms were determined. Data on ambient weather and water chemistry were collected for analyzing their associations with microorganisms in water. All water samples were positive for indicator E. coli with mean concentrations per site ranging from 3.07 to 216.11 MPN/100 ml in 2012 and 13.4 to 226.97 MPN/100 ml in 2013. Mean E. coli concentrations in 27% and 36% samplings sites exceeded the EPA 2012 Recreational Water Quality Criteria recommended mean concentration of ≤ 126 CFU/100 ml of E. coli, in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts were detected in all water samples from all sampling sites, with an overall prevalence of 50% and mean concentrations of 0.08 oocysts/l in 2012 and 0.19 oocysts/l in 2013. Giardia spp. cysts were detected at eight sites, with an overall prevalence of 28.8% and mean concentration of 0.2 cysts/l in both years. The majority of the detected Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts and Giardia spp. cysts appeared damaged under microscopy. E. coli O157:H7 was detected in 9% of water samples, with positive samples limited to three sites. Salmonella spp. were detected in all but one site across the two years, with mean concentrations of 0.94 MPN/l in 2012 and 1.85 MPN/l in 2013. Cryptosporidium spp. oocyst concentrations were negatively associated with 30-day mean wind speed and cumulative precipitation and dissolved oxygen in water. Giardia spp. cyst concentrations were positively associated with turbidity and pH of water and negatively associated with E. coli concentrations and 24-h mean air temperature. Salmonella spp. concentrations were positively associated with 30-day mean air temperature. The occurrence of E. coli O157:H7 was positively associated with previous 30-day cumulative precipitation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barna, Z., & Kadar, M. (2012). The risk of contracting infectious diseases in public swimming pools. A review. Annali dell Istituto Superiore di Sanita, 48(4), 374–386.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Califoria Water Boards (2017). Water quality control plan for the central Coastal Basin. https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralcoast/publications_forms/publications/basin_plan/docs2017/2017_basin_plan_r3_complete.pdf:1-575.

  • CIMIS. 2013. California Irrigation Management Information System. https://cimis.water.ca.gov/WSNReportCriteria.aspx.

  • Cooley, M. B., Quinones, B., Oryang, D., Mandrell, R. E., & Gorski, L. (2014). Prevalence of Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli Salmonella enterica, and listeria monocytogenes at public access watershed sites in a California central coast agricultural region. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 4, 13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dziuban, E. J., Liang, J. L., Craun, G. F., Hill, V., Yu, P. A., Painter, J., Moore, M. R., Calderon, R. L., Roy, S. L., & Beach, M. J. (2006). Surveillance for waterborne disease and outbreaks associated with recreational water--United States, 2003-2004. Morbidity and mortality weekly report. Surveillance summaries (Washington, D.C. : 2002), 55(12), 1–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elmore, S. A., Lalonde, L. F., Samelius, G., Alisauskas, R. T., Gajadhar, A. A., & Jenkins, E. J. (2013). Endoparasites in the feces of arctic foxes in a terrestrial ecosystem in Canada. International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife, 2, 90–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giampaoli, S., & Spica, V. R. (2014). Health and safety in recreational waters. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 92(2), 79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harwood, V. J., Levine, A. D., Scott, T. M., Chivukula, V., Lukasik, J., Farrah, S. R., & Rose, J. B. (2005). Validity of the indicator organism paradigm for pathogen reduction in reclaimed water and public health protection. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 71(6), 3163–3170.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hlavsa, M. C., Roberts, V. A., Anderson, A. R., Hill, V. R., Kahler, A. M., Orr, M., Garrison, L. E., Hicks, L. A., Newton, A., Hilborn, E. D., Wade, T. J., Beach, M. J., & Yoder, J. S. (2011). Surveillance for waterborne disease outbreaks and other health events associated with recreational water --- United States, 2007--2008. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Surveillance summaries (Washington, D.C. : 2002), 60(12), 1–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kostrzynska, M., Sankey, M., Haack, E., Power, C., Aldom, J. E., Chagla, A. H., Unger, S., Palmateer, G., Lee, H., Trevors, J. T., & De Grandis, S. A. (1999). Three sample preparation protocols for polymerase chain reaction based detection of Cryptosporidium parvum in environmental samples. Journal of Microbiological Methods, 35(1), 65–71.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Leclerc, H., Schwartzbrod, L., & Dei-Cas, E. (2002). Microbial agents associated with waterborne diseases. Critical Reviews in Microbiology, 28(4), 371–409.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • MacKenzie, W. R., Kazmierczak, J. J., & Davis, J. P. (1995). An outbreak of cryptosporidiosis associated with a resort swimming pool. Epidemiology and Infection, 115(3), 545–553.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mavridou, A., Pappa, O., Papatzitze, O., Blougoura, A., & Drossos, P. (2014). An overview of pool and spa regulations in Mediterranean countries with a focus on the tourist industry. Journal of Water and Health, 12(3), 359–371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Partyka, M. L., Bond, R. F., Chase, J. A., Kiger, L., & Atwill, E. R. (2016). Multistate evaluation of microbial water and sediment quality from agricultural recovery basins. Journal of Environmental Quality, 45(2), 657.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paton, A. W., & Paton, J. C. (2002). Detection and characterization of STEC in stool samples using PCR. In D. Philpott, F. Ebel (Eds.), Methods in Molecular Medicine, E. coli Shigatoxin methods and protocols (Vol. 73, pp. 45–54). Totowa: Humana Press.

  • Pereira, M. D., Atwill, E. R., & Jones, T. (1999). Comparison of sensitivity of immunofluorescent microscopy to that of a combination of immunofluorescent microscopy and immunomagnetic separation for detection of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts in adult bovine feces. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 65(7), 3236–3239.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pereira, M. D., Atwill, E. R., Barbosa, A. P., Silva, S. A., & Garcia-Zapata, M. T. (2002). Intra-familial and extra-familial risk factors associated with Cryptosporidium parvum infection among children hospitalized for diarrhea in Goiania, Goias, Brazil. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 66(6), 787–793.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramirez-Castillo, F. Y., Loera-Muro, A., Jacques, M., Garneau, P., Avelar-Gonzalez, F. J., Harel, J., & Guerrero-Barrera, A. L. (2015). Waterborne pathogens: Detection methods and challenges. Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland), 4(2), 307–334.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schriewer, A., Miller, W. A., Byrne, B. A., Miller, M. A., Oates, S., Conrad, P. A., Hardin, D., Yang, H. H., Chouicha, N., Melli, A., Jessup, D., Dominik, C., & Wuertz, S. (2010). Presence of Bacteroidales as a predictor of pathogens in surface waters of the Central California coast. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 76(17), 5802–5814.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sivaganesan, M., Aw, T. G., Briggs, S., Dreelin, E., Aslan, A., Dorevitch, S., Shrestha, A., Isaacs, N., Kinzelman, J., Kleinheinz, G., Noble, R., Rediske, R., Scull, B., Rosenberg, S., Weberman, B., Sivy, T., Southwell, B., Siefring, S., Oshima, K., & Haugland, R. (2019). Standardized data quality acceptance criteria for a rapid Escherichia coli qPCR method (draft method C) for water quality monitoring at recreational beaches. Water Research, 156, 456–464.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, A., Reacher, M., Smerdon, W., Adak, G. K., Nichols, G., & Chalmers, R. M. (2006). Outbreaks of waterborne infectious intestinal disease in England and Wales, 1992-2003. Epidemiology and Infection, 134(6), 1141–1149.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • USEPA. 2003. U.S. EPA Approval of Colilert®, Colilert®-18, Enterolert™, Quanti-Tray® and Quanti-Tray®/2000 for Ambient Water Testing https://123.idexx.com/resource-library/water/water-reg-article5AP.pdf.

  • USEPA. (2009). Method 1603: Escherichia coli (E. coli) in water by membrane filtration using modified membrane-thermotolerant Escherichia coli Agar (Modified mTEC) EPA-821-R-09-007. Washington D.C.: US Environmental Protection Agency, ed. Office of Water (4303T).

    Google Scholar 

  • USEPA. (2012). Recreational water quality criteria. EPA-820-F-12-061. Washington, DC: Office of Water. United States Environmental Protection Agency.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valeriani, F., Giampaoli, S., & Romano Spica, V. (2014). The molecular enrichment approach for the identification of microbiological indicators in recreational waters. Microchemical Journal, 112, 70–74.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Waldron, L. S., Ferrari, B. C., Cheung-Kwok-Sang, C., Beggs, P. J., Stephens, N., & Power, M. L. (2011). Molecular epidemiology and spatial distribution of a waterborne cryptosporidiosis outbreak in Australia. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 77(21), 7766–7771.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • WHO. 2000. Global water supply and sanitation assessment 2000 report. http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/monitoring/jmp2000.pdf.

  • WHO. 2005. Water Recreation and Disease. http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/bathing/recreadis.pdf.

  • Xiao, L., Escalante, L., Yang, C., Sulaiman, I., Escalante, A. A., Montali, R. J., Fayer, R., & Lal, A. A. (1999). Phylogenetic analysis of Cryptosporidium parasites based on the small-subunit rRNA gene locus. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 65(4), 1578–1583.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yoder, J. S., Hlavsa, M. C., Craun, G. F., Hill, V., Roberts, V., Yu, P. A., Hicks, L. A., Alexander, N. T., Calderon, R. L., Roy, S. L., & Beach, M. J. (2008). Surveillance for waterborne disease and outbreaks associated with recreational water use and other aquatic facility-associated health events--United States, 2005-2006. Morbidity and mortality weekly report. Surveillance summaries (Washington, D.C. : 2002), 57(9), 1–29.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to the Central Valley Water Board for collaboration during the study. The Central Valley Water Board conducted field sampling, field parameters measuring, and laboratory analysis of indicator E. coli.

Funding

Funding for this study was made possible by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (Central Valley Water Board) of the California State Water Resource Control Board.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California-Davis, 4207 Vet Med 3B, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Xunde Li & Edward R. Atwill

  2. Western Institute for Food Safety and Security, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Xunde Li, Jennifer A. Chase, Ronald F. Bond, Panachon Lor, Kristine Fernandez, Trân H. Nguyen, Anyarat Thiptara & Edward R. Atwill

  3. School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA

    Melissa L. Partyka

Authors
  1. Xunde Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jennifer A. Chase
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ronald F. Bond
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Panachon Lor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Kristine Fernandez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Trân H. Nguyen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Melissa L. Partyka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Anyarat Thiptara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Edward R. Atwill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Edward R. Atwill.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Li, X., Chase, J.A., Bond, R.F. et al. Microbiological safety of popular recreation swimming sites in Central California. Environ Monit Assess 191, 456 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7601-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7601-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation