Urbanization impacts the physicochemical characteristics and abundance of fecal markers and bacterial pathogens in surface water

Urbanization is increasing worldwide and is happening at a rapid rate in China in line with economic development. Urbanization can lead to major changes in freshwater environments through multiple chemical and microbial contaminants. We assessed the impact of urbanization on physicochemical characteristics and microbial loading in canals in Suzhou, a city that has experienced rapid urbanization in recent decades. Nine sampling locations covering three urban intensity classes (high, medium and low) in Suzhou were selected for field studies and three locations in Huangshan (natural reserve) were included as pristine control locations. Water samples were collected for physicochemical, microbiological and molecular analyses. Compared to medium and low urbanization sites, there were statistically significant higher levels of nutrients and total and thermotolerant coliforms (or fecal coliforms) in highly urbanized locations. The effect of urbanization was also apparent in the abundances of human-associated fecal markers and bacterial pathogens in water samples from highly urbanized locations. These results correlated well with land use types and anthropogenic activities at the sampling sites. The overall results indicate that urbanization negatively impacts water quality, providing high levels of nutrients and a microbial load that includes fecal markers and pathogens.