A model for predicting resuspension of Escherichia coli from streambed sediments

To improve the modeling of water quality in watersheds, a model is developed to predict resuspension of Escherichia coli from sediment beds in streams. The resuspension rate is expressed as the product of the concentration of E. coli attached to sediment particles and an erosion rate adapted from work on sediment transport. The model uses parameter values mostly taken from previous work, and it accounts for properties of the flow through the bottom shear stress and properties of the sediment through the critical shear stresses for cohesive and non-cohesive sediment. Predictions were compared to resuspension rates inferred from a steady mass balance applied to measurements at sixteen locations in a watershed. The model’s predictions matched the inferred rates well, especially when the diameter of particles to which E. coli attach was allowed to depend on the bottom shear stress. The model’s sensitivity to the parameters depends on the contributions of particle packing and binding effects of clay to the critical shear stress. For the current data set, the uncertainty in the predictions is controlled by the concentration of E. coli attached to sediment particles and the slope used to estimate the bottom shear stress.

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► We develop a model to predict resuspension of Escherichia coli from stream beds.
► The model includes properties of the flow, sediment, and organisms.
► The predicted rates match rates inferred from field measurements well.
► Model sensitivity depends on the process determining the critical shear stress.
► The concentration of attached E. coli and the river slope control the uncertainty.