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The impact of Shokarski stormwater canal on the bathing waters quality of Varna Bay located in the northern Bulgarian Black Sea was investigated during 2007-2014. A total of five monitoring stations were selected: three city beaches near the area of discharge of the stormwater canal and two nearby resorts beaches. The water quality was assessed following the requirements of the old EU Bathing Water Directive (BWD) 76/160/EEC and the new BWD 2006/7/EC. The resort beaches exhibited excellent water quality through the whole period. The situation at the city beaches was worst. The 'Officers Beach' situated exactly at the area of discharge of Shokarski stormwater canal exhibited concentrations of ammonium and nitrates significantly above the guide value in most of the cases, the lowest compliance with the total coliforms and faecal coliforms guide values and the highest concentrations of Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several beaches within the Toronto region area of concern have persistent issues with fecal contamination, causing a beach beneficial use impairment (BUI). In this study, Escherichia coli, including ampicillin-resistant strains, were enumerated via culturable and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) methods. Microbial source tracking (MST) markers (for general Bacteroidales, human, ruminant/cow, gull, and dog) were detected and enumerated via PCR and qPCR to identify sources of fecal contamination at Sunnyside Beach and in the Humber River. Human, cow, and dog markers had good host-specificity, while gull markers sometimes amplified a few other bird species. The ruminant endpoint PCR marker amplified a variety of other animal species rendering it less useful. Both human and gull fecal contamination were prevalent in the Humber River, while Sunnyside Beach was predominantly impacted by gull fecal contamination. Human sewage impacts were more prevalent in the lower Humber River, particularly in Black Creek. However, to reduce Sunnyside beach postings, reducing bird fecal contamination in the river and at the beach would be necessary. When there are high levels of E. coli throughout a beachshed, an MST toolbox approach can add value to discriminate source(s) of E. coli contamination and guide decisions relating to public health risk and remediation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]