RICHMOND
The Virginia Department of Health has kicked off its annual water-quality testing program at 44 state beaches.
Local health department employees are going out weekly to check whether it's safe to swim in waters off the beaches along 70 miles of the Chesapeake Bay and coastal shoreline. Water samples are tested for enterococcus group bacteria, the type found in the intestines of humans and animals, which can indicate whether fecal matter is present.
Results above a certain level — 104 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters of water — will be posted on the state health department's Web site. Officials also plan to post swimming advisories that inform people that getting in the water could pose a health risk.
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To bluewaterman:
What are you suggesting? Sampling full time seems impractical and uber-costly.
If you're making a recommendation, do so, otherwise.....
And oh, by the way
It's your money.
A very good question
An alternate course of action might be to sample whenever certain trigger events occur, such as heavy rainfall, algae blooms, etc., in those specific areas where they are most likely to occur. These types of events are generally very predictable/easily detected at an early stage. There is no overwhelming argument to sample any environmental media when and where conditions likely to cause elevated concentrations of the contaminants of concern are not present.
timing is everything
Monitoring ocean water quality via weekly sampling events is futile at best and only provides data for the exact moment and location from which the sample was collected. This is a classic case of spending money on a program that does not provide accurate information.