Impacts of rapid urbanization on characteristics, sources and variation of fecal coliform at watershed scale

Microbial pollution is an environmental problem of growing concern for threatening human health. However, the impacts of rapid urbanization on characteristics, sources and variation of fecal coliform (FC) at watershed scale have not been fully explored. In this study, FC characteristics were monitored monthly for 2 years at 21 river sections in an urbanizing watershed, while the sources and continuously annual variation were quantified by integrating two commonly-used models. The results showed that FC varied from 103 to 106 MPN/L, indicating a great spatiotemporal variation at watershed scale. Peak FC occurred in summer and autumn among upstream and downstream areas, respectively. Besides, 65% impermeable surface was identified as the threshold of urban level, beyond which the key FC source would shift from agriculture to urban. It was also found that the changes of urban landscape patterns had poor correlation with annual variation of FC. In comparison, urbanization speed was identified as the major driver with the threshold of 30% for deteriorating FC pollution. The Low Impact Development could result in a 5.13%?97.59% reduction of FC at watershed scale.

Automated summary

The study revealed significant spatiotemporal variation of fecal coliform (FC) in an urbanizing watershed, with peak FC levels occurring in summer and autumn in upstream and downstream areas respectively. When the impervious surface area reached 65%, the key source of FC shifted from agriculture to urban. However, there was a poor correlation between urban landscape pattern changes and annual FC variation. Urbanization speed was identified as the main driver for deteriorating FC pollution, with Low Impact Development potentially leading to a significant reduction in FC levels at the watershed scale.