Animal Waste, Water Quality and Human Health

Indicators, sanitary surveys and source attribution techniques 325(Bartram & Rees 2000b). A sanitary survey may be used to identify probablesources of FIO, such as enterococci and E. coli, which are quantified as thebasis for assessing health risk. Sanitary surveys can be conducted by localauthorities when attempting to classify a water body for uses such as recreationor shellfish harvesting, when conducting an annual assessment, or in response tothe isolation of high FIO levels from bathing waters as a result ofcompliance monitoring.While the identification of direct sources may be undertaken fairly easily, agood sanitary inspection will aid in the identification of less obvious, indirect(nonpoint), sources of contamination. Sanitary surveys can identify possiblepollution sources, yet they lack the capability to definitively identify the hostsource of FIOs and should be combined with indicator assessments and/or othersource attribution techniques to provide the maximum benefit. The use of acombined approach, sanitary inspection plus FIO assessments, forms the basisof the health risk-based approach the beach management framework put forth inthe Guidelines for Safe Recreational Water Environments (WHO, 2003). Fieldstudies combining extensive sanitary surveys with FIO measurements andPCR-based analysis for host-specific markers of faecal contamination have beenused successfully in Florida total maximum daily load (TMDL) implementationprogrammes (Staley et al. 2009, Wapnick et al. 2008).In Europe, the EU Bathing Waters Directive (CEC 2006) establishes a statutoryrequirement for Member States to prepare profiles for each EU bathing water. Theseprofiles are a form of sanitary survey which were to be in place by early 2011, andshall be maintained by a stipulated programme for review and update. They shallcontain elements which describe the physical, geographic and hydrologicalcharacteristics of the bathing water (including, if appropriate, nearby surfacewaters), identify and assess causes of pollution which may impair bathers’ health,and, if relevant, indicate other potential risks (e.g. cyanobacteria, macro algae andphytoplankton). The authorities in each EU Member State must assess the riskand anticipated nature, frequency, and detail of short–term (event-based)or remaining (persistent) pollution and provide management measures forimprovement. They must also indicate what measures shall be undertaken duringany such short-term pollution event. Information from the profiles is to beprovided and disseminated to the public by appropriate communication channelsand technologies, such as the internet, along with the provision of summaryinformation in non-technical language at easily accessible places near bathingwaters (e.g. by maps, posters or signage).The Canadian Recreational Water Quality Guidelines (3rd edition, HealthCanada 2010) recommend the use of sanitary inspections as a component of anintegrated, multi-barrier approach to protect water users in Canada. Working