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Understanding the fate of microbial fecal indicators is crucial for interpreting water quality data and protecting public health. Here, we released sewage in artificial streams to understand the influence of biofilm growth on the transport of the fecal indicators Escherichia coli, Carjivirus, HF183/BacR287, and pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV). PMMoV exhibited significantly lower retention rates than all other targets before (−0.0029 m–1) biofilm colonization (p < 0.05), with no statistically significant difference between targets identified after biofilm colonization. When comparing retention rates between target biofilm conditions, we found marginally significant differences for PMMoV (p < 0.05), whereas Carjivirus, HF183/BacR287, and E. coli showed no changes before and after biofilm growth. All targets showed higher removal rates before biofilm growth, with PMMoV being the only target to demonstrate statistical significance (p < 0.05). These findings suggest the influence of biofilm colonization on the transport of fecal indicators in water is specific to the target being observed, with PMMoV consistently traveling longer in the water column than other targets. This study advances our understanding of fecal indicator dynamics in flowing waters, highlighting the critical influence of both indicator choice and environmental conditions on the fate of these indicators in the environment.
Greaves et al. (Mon,) studied this question.