Bacterial Contamination and Submarine Groundwater Discharge—A Possible Link

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doi:10.1071/EN04002

Bacterial Contamination and Submarine Groundwater Discharge—A Possible Link

Adina Paytan ^A ^D, Alexandria B. Boehm ^B, Gregory G. Shellenbarger ^B ^C

^A Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
^B Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
^C Current address: 401 13th St.Sacramento, CA 95814, USA.
^D Corresponding author (e-mail: apaytan@pangea.stanford.edu).





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Environmental Context. Pathogenic bacteria and viruses are sometimes detected in coastal waters, high levels of which correlate with occurrence of acute gastrointestinal illness in recreational beach users. The source of the bacterial and viral contamination to the beach is not always easy to decipher, and therefore efforts to prevent these occurrences are limited by lack of full understanding of their cause.

Abstract. Beach water contamination by pathogenic agents is monitored by Fecal Indicator Bacteria (FIB) levels. A source of these agents may be submarine groundwater discharge. At Huntington Beach, California high FIB levels in the surf zone are shown to be associated with high ²²⁴Ra and ²²³Ra activities, indicators of groundwater discharge.

Keywords: bacteria — groundwater — radium — sewage — water analysis