BALDWIN COUNTY, Ala. (WPMI) — The Health Department has issued public swimming advisories for the following bodies of water:
– Mobile Bay at Mayday Park in Daphne
– Bon Secours Bay at Mary Ann Nelson Park in Barnwell (south of Fairhope).
The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) is notifying the public that two recent consecutive swimming water tests showed poor water quality. Swimming in this area may increase your risk of illness. Monitoring will continue and the advisory will be lifted once bacterial levels fall below the Environmental Protection Agency’s standard of 104 Enterococci per 100 milliliters of water.
ADPH and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) operate a bacteriological water quality monitoring and notification program with funding from EPA’s BEACH Act program, which involves the regular collection of water samples from 25 heavily used coastal recreational sites.
These samples are analyzed for the presence of Enterococcus. High levels may indicate the presence of other pathogens in the water. Samples are tested for Enterococcus based on EPA’s Criteria for Bathing (Whole-Body Contact) Recreational Waters. These indicator bacteria live in the intestines of humans and other warm-blooded animals. Bacterial concentrations in recreational waters can increase during or immediately after storms due to overflows at sewage collection and treatment plants, storm water runoff, septic tank failures, and agricultural runoff. No sewage runoff has occurred.
If monitoring results exceed EPA standards, the affected locations will be immediately retested. If the second test results indicate that enterococci levels continue to exceed EPA standards, the Health Department, with the assistance of media outlets, will issue a public advisory stating that there may be an increased risk of illness associated with swimming in the affected locations.
