Water Quality at Beaches
Polluted Water Hurts Health and Tourism in U.S.
The water quality at vacation beaches is worse than it's been in 17 years. In 2006 there was a record number of beach closings and warnings.
According to NRDC’s “Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches” report, the number of beach closings caused by storm water run off have doubled since last year. There were over 25,000 closings or health advisory days and over 10,500 of those were from dirty run off and storm water.
Polluted water not only hurts people’s health but the economy. 45% of water assessed in the U.S. was not clean enough to either swim or fish in, which then also affects the tourism industry.
- In 2006, 8% of all water samples collected in the U.S. exceeded the federal minimum public health standard and showed no improvement from the previous year. To make matters worse, the health standard is over 20 years old so is not updated to include all present waterbourne illnesses.
- This leaves swimmers vulnerable to being exposed to diseases. The current standard mainly focuses on bacteria found in human waste and not diseases caused by viruses and parasites.
NRDC’s National Beach Protection Program proposes protective standards including more intensive monitoring after rain events and major pollutants such as oil spills, agricultural run off and malfunctioning septic systems.
- Federal Legislation is supported by NRDC in the form of the improved Beach Protection Act of 2007. This was introduced in May of 2007 to congress and will enable funding to double and monitoring to improve. One of the most important improvements will be more rapid detection methods so that beach water contamination levels will be known in two hours or less. Presently testing methods provide information that could be 24 to 48 hours old.
- The Environmental Protection Agency’s current bacteria standard allows 19 illnesses per 1,000 saltwater swimmers and 8 illnesses per 1,000 fresh water swimmers. Standards need to be designed to better protect small children and the elderly as well as include pollution from storm water and not just sewage.
Pathogens from sewage are the most common culprits that make people sick. These include bacteria, viruses and protozoa. Illnesses can include things like diarrhea, ear infections, respiratory infections and more. Small children and the elderly are more vulnerable to developing severe symptoms that could possibly be fatal. This is why it is important to enforce stricter standards for monitoring pollution in both oceans and lakes.
- Many of NRDC’s elements from their proposed upgraded program have been adapted by the federal BEACH act but it still has not been fully implemented. If both the government and individuals made clean water a priority by polluting less and providing funding, our beaches would become safer.
Ways Individuals Can Improve Beach Water Quality:
- Conserve water.
- Don’t dump hazardous waste down the drain.
- Lead rain gutters to soil, grass, and not cement.
- Clean septic tanks every three to five years to prevent overflow.
- Avoid pesticides and herbicides and use natural fertilizers on gardens.
- Don’t dump motor oil and recycle it instead.
- Don’t dump boat sewage or trash in the water.
- Clean up litter at the beach.
- Put babies in proper swimming pants.
Learn more about beaches water quality either at NRDC’s website or at the EPA’s website.
Source: Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches, August 2007, Mark Dorfman, Nancy Stoner, NRDC
