This book provides a real-world analysis of how to quantify and prioritize water-based microbial threats to human health, how to design data collection systems that truly support management decisions, and how to build a comprehensive monitoring program when dealing with cross-boundary issues. International borders and cross-boundary issues complicate water resource management. Even if nations or jurisdictions agree on the nature and source of the problem, differing legal frameworks complicate cross-border management, as the procedural steps and time necessary to implement a solution vary among entities. Waterborne pathogens transcend political boundaries and challenge the use of traditional political jurisdictions in meeting public policy objectives to protect human health. Disease outbreaks caused by waterborne pathogens continue to occur, even in the developed world. There has been a pronounced trend toward new and increasingly complex institutions and policies to address regional water quality management issues. However, many questions continue to arise regarding the effective management of regional resources. These questions include how to design effective monitoring strategies and what can be learned from previous successes and failures. The Laurentian Great Lakes offers a model system for exploring these questions. This book will be a valuable reference source for researchers and graduate students working in environmental science, microbiology, engineering, and biological sciences, as well as all those concerned with water quality monitoring programs.

This book provides an overview of beach management tools, including carrying capacity, beach nourishment, environmental and tourism awards (like Blue Flag or others), bathing water quality, zoning, beach typologies, quality index, user's perception, interdisciplinary beach monitoring, coastal legislation, shore protection, social and economic indicators, ecosystem services, and coastal governance (applied in beach case studies). Beaches are one of the most intensely used coastal ecosystems and are responsible for more than half of all global tourism revenues, and as such the book introduces a wide range of state-of-the-art tools that can be used to deal with a variety of beach challenges. Each chapter features specific types of tools that can be applied to advantage in beach management practices. With examples of local and regional case studies from around the globe, this is a valuable resource for anyone involved in beach management.

Oceans and Human Health highlights an unprecedented collaboration of environmental scientists, ecologists and physicians working together on this important new discipline, to the benefit of human health and ocean environmental integrity alike. Oceanography, toxicology, natural products chemistry, environmental microbiology, comparative animal physiology, epidemiology and public health are all long established areas of research in their own right and all contribute data and expertise to an integrated understanding of the ways in which ocean biology and chemistry affect human health for better or worse. This book introduces this topic to researchers and advanced students interested in this emerging field, enabling them to see how their research fits into the broader interactions between the aquatic environment and human health. - Color illustrations of aquatic life and oceanic phenomena such as hurricanes and algal blooms - Numerous case studies - Socio-economic and Ethical Analyses place the science in a broader context - Study questions for each chapter to assist students and instructors - Risks and remedies sections to help define course modules for instruction

Domestic animals contaminate recreational waters and drinking-water sources with excreta and pathogens; but this threat to public health is inadequately understood and is insufficiently addressed in regulations. More than 85% of the world’s faecal wastes is from domestic animals such as poultry, cattle, sheep and pigs. These animals harbor zoonotic pathogens that are transported in the environment by water, especially runoff. However little information exists on health effects associated with exposure to this potential hazard to human health; and water standards focused on control of human fecal contamination do reflect the contribution of non-human fecal contamination to risk. Does compliance with current monitoring practices using microbial indicators provide protection against animal and bird sources of fecal contamination? Prepared with contributions from a group of international experts, Animal Waste, Water Quality and Human Health considers microbial contamination from domestic animal and bird sources and explores the health hazards associated with this microbial contamination and approaches to protecting public health. Animal Waste, Water Quality and Human Health will be of interest to regulators with responsibility for recreational waters, drinking water quality and water reuse; policymakers working in water quality, public health and agriculture; decision makers responsible for livestock management; and scientists and practitioners concerned with many affected subjects. Topics covered include: Credible waterborne zoonotic pathogens are discussed and ranked according to their potential hazard level. Each pathogen is described with regard to their sources, reservoirs, and infectivity. Faecal production rates of various domestic animals are discussed, alongside pathogen transmission in animal populations, pathogen prevalence in animals and “supershedders”. Transport of fecal indicator organisms and their episodic occurrence in catchments. Interventions for improving food safety and reducing production losses. The impact of interventions, e.g. enhanced attenuation and storage to prevent spills; benchmarking against best management practices to reduce diffuse source contamination. Models to inform design of farm-scale best management practices and the effectiveness of best management practices for attenuating pathogen transport within catchments. The complex nature of human exposure to zoonotic waterborne pathogens; including the relationships among livestock waste contamination, water impairment, zoonotic pathogens, and human infection and illness. Human exposure interventions include case studies that discuss eradicating disease in discharging populations, adding filtration to minimal treated water to reduce Cryptosporidium occurrence and UV disinfection of beach waters to reduce beach postings. Indicators, sanitary surveys and source attribution techniques; risk assessment of exposure to zoonotic pathogens, including an interactive risk comparison approach. A review of epidemiological studies that address the relationship between swimmer illness and exposure to waters contaminated by nonhuman fecal wastes. Economic evaluation of the costs and benefits associated with animal waste management and human health.

Recent and forecasted advances in microbiology, molecular biology, and analytical chemistry have made it timely to reassess the current paradigm of relying predominantly or exclusively on traditional bacterial indicators for all types of waterborne pathogens. Nonetheless, indicator approaches will still be required for the foreseeable future because it is not practical or feasible to monitor for the complete spectrum of microorganisms that may occur in water, and many known pathogens are difficult to detect directly and reliably in water samples. This comprehensive report recommends the development and use of a "tool box" approach by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency and others for assessing microbial water quality in which available indicator organisms (and/or pathogens in some cases) and detection method(s) are matched to the requirements of a particular application. The report further recommends the use of a phased, three-level monitoring framework to support the selection of indicators and indicator approaches.Â