Fecal Bacteria Unsafe Levels On 33% of Beaches

[Scaramanga F25]

Geese are the major polluters of beaches on the upper St Lawrence River
.

[ferrailleur]

Any info on the upper Chesapeake Bay which looks so polluted?

[Cadence]

Just a thought. I wonder if the old pump directly overboard did less damage since it was less volume per tide than a tank discharge. Lakes and river exempted from that thought.

[RickG]

Before we sailed to the Caribbean we got our Hepatitis shots. My doctor is from Barbados. She understood, "We don't swim near an anchorage."

Cheers, RickG

[Cadence]

Fecal coliforms can be the result of domestic live stock or wildlife runoff, so avoiding creek or river runoff areas might be a good idea.

[guyrj33]

Originally Posted by TigerPaws

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/main...6H_amoYuO8lZEA

There is an excellent map about 1/2 way into the article which shows the problem around the US and Puerto Rico. From my personal experience most of the islands throughout the Caribbean with any notable population has this problem. Waste, sewage and related pollution is a major problem and while I do my best to avoid such areas it is not always possible.

SeaQuest OE II

TiggerPaws you should be ashamed posting this article. Almost every paragraph contains exaggeration and mis-representations.

This is an example of what was called yellow journalism in the past.

[boat driver]

sewage treatment formula is based on dilution. enough said.

[Cpt Pat]

Despite their best efforts, my harbormaster has had little success getting the seals, sea lions, dolphins, and thousands of birds to use the bathroom facilities on shore.

And the whales just outside the harbor are unaware of the requirements.

[conchaway]

WAY, WAY too many people (Can you say, "birth control"?).

[StuM]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Anyone who supports rules and regulations, that make products safer or improve public health, can expect to come under attack from critics, arguing they’re restricting freedom and turning the country into a “nanny state”.

My question was poorly posed.
I was thinking more about what level of fecal bacteria is classed as "unsafe" and what sort of risk that level really poses.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by StuM

I was thinking more about what level of fecal bacteria is classed as "unsafe" and what sort of risk that level really poses.

The current USEPA recommendations are:
for body-contact recreation is fewer than 200 colonies/100 mL
for fishing and boating, fewer than 1000 colonies/100 mL
and for domestic water supply, for treatment, fewer than 2000 colonies/100 mL
The drinking water standard is less than 1 colony total coliform bacteria/ 100ml with E. coli absent.

Fecal coliform by themselves are usually not pathogenic; they are indicator organisms, which means they may indicate the presence of other pathogenic bacteria. Pathogens are typically present in such small amounts it is impractical monitor them directly.

However, some strains of Escherichia coli , which are a type of fecal coliform, can cause intestinal illness.
The presence of fecal coliform bacteria in aquatic environments indicates that the water has been contaminated with the fecal material of man or other animals. At the time this occurred, the source water may have been contaminated by pathogens or disease producing bacteria or viruses which can also exist in fecal material.

Some waterborne pathogenic diseases include typhoid fever, viral and bacterial gastroenteritis and hepatitis A.

The presence of fecal contamination is an indicator that a potential health risk exists for individuals exposed to this water. Fecal coliform bacteria may occur in ambient water as a result of the overflow of domestic sewage or nonpoint sources of human and animal waste.
Swimming in waters with high levels of fecal coliform bacteria increases the chance of developing illness (fever, nausea or stomach cramps) from pathogens entering the body through the mouth, nose, ears, or cuts in the skin. Diseases and illnesses that can be contracted in water with high fecal coliform counts include typhoid fever, hepatitis, gastroenteritis, dysentery and ear infections.

[geoleo]

Where there is life there is 'sheet' ----get over it-look at Liberal San Francisco and liberal Sanctuary City LA- the streets there are full of "fecal matter".

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by GordMay

The current USEPA recommendations are:
for body-contact recreation is fewer than 200 colonies/100 mL
for fishing and boating, fewer than 1000 colonies/100 mL
and for domestic water supply, for treatment, fewer than 2000 colonies/100 mL
The drinking water standard is less than 1 colony total coliform bacteria/ 100ml with E. coli absent.

Fecal coliform by themselves are usually not pathogenic; they are indicator organisms, which means they may indicate the presence of other pathogenic bacteria. Pathogens are typically present in such small amounts it is impractical monitor them directly.

However, some strains of Escherichia coli , which are a type of fecal coliform, can cause intestinal illness.
The presence of fecal coliform bacteria in aquatic environments indicates that the water has been contaminated with the fecal material of man or other animals. At the time this occurred, the source water may have been contaminated by pathogens or disease producing bacteria or viruses which can also exist in fecal material.

Some waterborne pathogenic diseases include typhoid fever, viral and bacterial gastroenteritis and hepatitis A.

The presence of fecal contamination is an indicator that a potential health risk exists for individuals exposed to this water. Fecal coliform bacteria may occur in ambient water as a result of the overflow of domestic sewage or nonpoint sources of human and animal waste.
Swimming in waters with high levels of fecal coliform bacteria increases the chance of developing illness (fever, nausea or stomach cramps) from pathogens entering the body through the mouth, nose, ears, or cuts in the skin. Diseases and illnesses that can be contracted in water with high fecal coliform counts include typhoid fever, hepatitis, gastroenteritis, dysentery and ear infections.

Re "animals" I remember when ritzy LaJolla CA tried to remove the seals from "seal rock" for shitting too much and despaired that there wasn't a sewage collection plant for the seals in the ocean. Mitt Romney who lives nearby had no solution.

[Cpt Pat]

Originally Posted by GordMay

The current USEPA recommendations are:
for body-contact recreation is fewer than 200 colonies/100 mL
for fishing and boating, fewer than 1000 colonies/100 mL
and for domestic water supply, for treatment, fewer than 2000 colonies/100 mL
The drinking water standard is less than 1 colony total coliform bacteria/ 100ml with E. coli absent.

Fecal coliform by themselves are usually not pathogenic; they are indicator organisms, which means they may indicate the presence of other pathogenic bacteria. Pathogens are typically present in such small amounts it is impractical monitor them directly.

However, some strains of Escherichia coli , which are a type of fecal coliform, can cause intestinal illness.
The presence of fecal coliform bacteria in aquatic environments indicates that the water has been contaminated with the fecal material of man or other animals. At the time this occurred, the source water may have been contaminated by pathogens or disease producing bacteria or viruses which can also exist in fecal material.

Some waterborne pathogenic diseases include typhoid fever, viral and bacterial gastroenteritis and hepatitis A.

The presence of fecal contamination is an indicator that a potential health risk exists for individuals exposed to this water. Fecal coliform bacteria may occur in ambient water as a result of the overflow of domestic sewage or nonpoint sources of human and animal waste.
Swimming in waters with high levels of fecal coliform bacteria increases the chance of developing illness (fever, nausea or stomach cramps) from pathogens entering the body through the mouth, nose, ears, or cuts in the skin. Diseases and illnesses that can be contracted in water with high fecal coliform counts include typhoid fever, hepatitis, gastroenteritis, dysentery and ear infections.

Recently, I was watching one of our harbormasters addressing a group of environmentalists who visited my harbor. When they asked about the source of fecal coliform bacteria in the water, he pointed at the seawall, which is covered with a thick white coating and said: "We didn't go out there and paint those rocks white. All that is bird poop." We have an astounding number of gulls and pelicans at my harbor. So many that the air near the seawalls STINKS. And then there're the seals an sea loins. While I'm OK with the situation, I thought: "All you environmentalists need to do is kill all the sea life to solve the fecal coliform bacteria problem. How do you feel about doing that?"

By the way: I live near San Francisco. We aren't all Liberal Left Wing Nut Jobs out here. Ours is the state that gave you all Ronald Reagan - after we elected him govenor... Just responding to unnecessary regional bigotry expressed above.

[letsgetsailing3]

So...


All you need to do is avoid coastlines?


Not sure how useful this really is. Seems to be more about getting people worried.


But the real use of this is that we need to do a better of sewage disposal on land.