Citation:
J.W. Knox, S. Tyrrel, A. Daccache, E.K. Weatherhead. A geospatial approach to assessing microbiological water quality risks associated with irrigation abstraction. Water and Environment Journal, June 2011, Volume 25, Issue 2, pp282-289
Abstract:
All crops that are eaten raw can present a microbiological risk to consumers.
Disease outbreaks in the United Kingdom and United States have illustrated that
ready-to-eat crops can be a vehicle for the transmission of gastrointestinal
disease. Irrigation water has been implicated as a possible source of
microbiological contaminants. Over two-thirds of irrigation water applied to UK
salad crops is abstracted from rivers and streams. Many of these are subject to
a continuous input of faecal contamination from sewage treatment works as well
as intermittent inputs from livestock and sewer overflows. In this paper, we
show how geospatial techniques can help to assess the relationships between
treated effluent discharges and abstractions and thus provide a new insight into
local-scale assessments of irrigation water quality. The extent to which the
approach can inform risk assessments and decision-making at the farm scale is
demonstrated using a case-study catchment in eastern England.
