This resource holds survival data of human pathogens bound to microplastics during transfer through the freshwater-marine continuum. The survival of Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonising polyethylene or glass particles was quantified in mesocosm incubation experiments designed to simulate, (1) the direct release of microplastics from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) into freshwater and seawater environments; and (2) the movement of microplastics downstream following discharge from the WWTP through the river-estuary-marine-beach continuum. Background bacterial concentrations and crystal violet were also measured. Full details about this nonGeographicDataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/c31c0b2a-ee5b-479f-84c3-ff1b0bfc6d84