Identifying sources of surface water pollution: A toolbox approach

This article examines a "toolbox" approach for identifying pollution sources-especially fecal sources-within a watershed. Distinguishing human and animal sources is important in assessing human health risks. Traditional water quality measurements cannot conclusively differentiate fecal sources, thus microbial source tracking (MST) is necessary to identify contributions from different sources. In this study, a toolbox approach that includes both traditional indicators and multiple MST targets was used to demonstrate what measures are needed in a toolbox and how to best use these measures to obtain useful data. The authors found that several physical and chemical water quality measures were redundant and could be eliminated from a sampling plan. Their toolbox approach integrates monitoring techniques that can be tailored to meet the needs of individual watershed management agencies-even those with limited resources. The MST targets in the toolbox can incorporate with bacteriological facilities already available to most watershed management agencies.-SB