rap # 90 06/20/12

OCEAN COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT AGAIN MONITORING WATER QUALITY AT 77 BATHING SITES

IT’S AS MUCH a rite of summer as suntans or pizza on the boardwalk.

Each year employees from the Ocean County Health Department returns to bathing beaches along the ocean, bay, rivers and lakes ensuring that the waters are safe for swimming.

From the middle of May through Labor Day seven seasonal employees collect weekly water samples from 77 beaches around the county. The water is tested for bacteria and the results are posted for the public to review.

"We have one of the oldest and most successful water quality testing programs in the nation," said Freeholder Director Gerry P. Little. "No swimming beach in Ocean County opens to families unless we are certain that the water is safe and clean."

Samples from salt-water beaches are tested for enterococcus, a bacterium found in the intestines of warm-blooded animals.

If the sample exceeds 104 colony-forming units per milliliter of water, the beach is immediately resampled.

If a second high reading occurs, the beach is closed. The water is then retested daily and reopened only after the bacteria count drops below 104.

A similar method is used from fresh-water beaches, only that water is tested for fecal coliform, which is also a bacterium found in the intestines of warm-blooded animals.

Fresh water beaches are closed if 200 colony-forming units per milliliter of water are found.

All testing is done by the Ocean County Utilities Authority laboratories.

Little encouraged residents to check the water sampling results before heading out for a day at the beach.

The Ocean County Health Department posts water quality reports and beach closures on its website at www.ochd.org.

The department also offers a hotline available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for up to the minute reports. To check on a status of a bathing beach, call the Ocean County Health Department Water Quality Hotline at 732-341-9700, ext. 7776 or at 1-800-342-9738, ext. 7776.

"Generally, most problems occur after a heavy rain when storm water runoff is washed into the water," Little said.

The Health Department also recommends against swimming at bay, lake, river, and creek beaches for at least 24 hours a rainstorm.

Little said the impact of storm water runoff can be lessened by not throwing trash into the street and always cleaning up after pets.

"A cigarette thrown out of a car window is eventually going to end up in a river, lake or the bay," he said.

The water-testing program is funded by a $90,000 state Department of Environmental Protection grant.

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