Fecal contamination in Yongin watershed: association to land use and land cover and stormwater quality

Fecal contaminants in stormwater runoff have a potential threat to impairment and degradation of water and have a negative impact on public health. Stormwater runoff is increasing in amount and rate of discharge due to loss of vegetated landscape and increasing urbanization. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of fecal contaminants on four monitoring sites and on stormwater quality in Yongin watershed, South Korea. The four experimental catchment sites comprising of construction areas, mixed land use, agricultural, and urban. It was observed that mixed catchment and urban area have higher fecal contaminants among other land use and land cover. The results indicate that an increase in human activities in a particular area may indicate a high contribution in the increased fecal levels, however, it does not necessarily mean that majority of human-related activities may bring the increase of human source of fecal contamination. Overall, the obtained most probable number values for all fecal tests suggested that the water samples are not fit for either safe drinking, washing, or bathing as they may cause some serious illnesses to human.