engleski

Issues Related to Sanitary Seawater Quality Monitoring in the Impact Zone of Coastal Karst Springs – Example From Rijeka Bay

The monitoring of sanitary quality of the coastal sea on beaches includes the analysis of physical, chemical and bacteriological characteristics of seawater. Microbiological parameters are considered as the most significant indicators of pollution of the sea with sanitary wastewater. The results of sampling on the beaches of Rijeka Bay done during 2009-2013 show that the seawater is of excellent quality on the majority of the analysed locations throughout the period of analysis. Exceptionally, there are occasional issues of unsatisfactory seawater quality due to increased concentrations of microbiological parameters (selected indicators: intestinal enterococci and Escherichia coli). Such issues are exactly associated with the locations under a strong impact of groundwater discharge from coastal springs. The paper analyses seawater pollution events in Rijeka Bay during 2009-2013 and defines interrelations of the selected parameters in the impact zone. Neural networks modeling is used to predict the critical states of seawater quality. Measures for improving the monitoring system by including active monitoring in the basin of coastal karst aquifers are proposed. This would provide an important precondition for improving the coastal seawater quality monitoring – possibility to take timely measures in real time to protect bathers’ health.

seawater quality monitoring; microbiological criteria; pollution indicators; coastal springs; neural network modeling

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