National Centre for Coastal Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, NIOT Campus, Pallikaranai, Chennai, 600 100, Tamil Nadu, India.
National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, Anna University Campus, Guindy, Chennai, 600 025, India.
Environ Monit Assess. 2021 Jul 1;193(7):455. doi: 10.1007/s10661-021-09244-2.
Coastal water quality assessment is important to maintain a healthy environment for various uses including fisheries and recreation. Microbial populations are used as biological indicators of contamination to monitor water quality and are considered by the government to be one of the critical features for issuing safety guidelines. Different bacterial groups (pathogenic, vibrio and faecal) from five major recreational beaches of Chennai, India, were monitored for the assessment of coastal water quality. Faecal coliforms (FC) were high at all the beaches, with up to 4.2 × 10 CFU/mL and exceeding the normal standard limits of 100 CFU/100 mL set by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) of India. Rainfall was found to have a role in the variability and distribution of indicator and pathogenic bacteria. The seasonal dry period witnessed elevated FC, while dilution in the wet period reduced Escherichia coli-like organisms (ECLO). High microbial counts were detected near the beach situated close to the river mouth, mainly due to discharges of untreated domestic sewage and industrial wastes. Similarly, the biological oxygen demand (BOD) was also high, 0.32 to 10.32 mg/L. Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) ranged from 2.21 to 134.53 μmol/L and inorganic phosphate (IP) ranged from 0 to 57.53 μmol/L. These values indicated the presence of significant untreated sewage in the coastal water. This study revealed that Chennai coastal waters carry high levels of faecal and pathogenic bacteria, detrimental for recreational and other contact activities. The quantitative and qualitative analyses will be useful for modelling and prediction of coastal water quality and management of other recreational beaches in India.
沿海水质评估对于维护包括渔业和娱乐在内的各种用途的健康环境非常重要。微生物种群被用作污染的生物指标来监测水质，并且被政府认为是发布安全指南的关键特征之一。从印度钦奈的五个主要娱乐海滩监测了不同的细菌群体（致病、弧菌和粪便），以评估沿海水质。所有海滩的粪大肠菌群（FC）都很高，高达 4.2×10 CFU/mL，超过了印度中央污染控制委员会（CPCB）设定的正常标准限值 100 CFU/100 mL。发现降雨在指示菌和致病菌的变异性和分布中起作用。在旱季，FC 升高，而在雨季稀释则降低了大肠杆菌样生物（ECLO）。靠近河口的海滩附近检测到高微生物计数，主要是由于未经处理的生活污水和工业废物排放。同样，生物需氧量（BOD）也很高，为 0.32 至 10.32 mg/L。溶解无机氮（DIN）范围为 2.21 至 134.53 μmol/L，无机磷酸盐（IP）范围为 0 至 57.53 μmol/L。这些值表明沿海水中存在大量未经处理的污水。这项研究表明，钦奈沿海海域携带高水平的粪便和致病菌，对娱乐和其他接触活动有害。定量和定性分析将有助于对沿海水质进行建模和预测，并管理印度其他的娱乐海滩。
