Questions to ask your local beach
health monitoring official:
• Which beaches do you monitor and how often?
• What do you test for?
• Where can I see the test results and who can
explain them to me?
• What are the primary sources of pollution that
affect this beach?
What to do if your beach is not
monitored regularly:
• Avoid swimming after a heavy rain.
• Look for storm drains along the beach. Don't
swim near them.
• If the waters of your beach have been designated
as a no-discharge zone for vessel sewage, check
to see if boat pumpout facilities are available and
working.
• Look for trash and such other signs of pollution
as oil slicks in the water. These kinds of
pollutants may indicate the presence of disease-
causing microorganisms that may also have been
washed into the water.
• If you think your beach water is contaminated,
contact your local health or environmental
protection officials. It is important for them
to know about
suspected beach water
contamination so they
can protect citizens
from exposure.
• Work with your local
authorities to create a
monitoring program.
For More
Information
For more information about beach water quality
advisories, contact your local or state health or
environmental protection department. \ou can find
the telephone number in the blue section of your
local telephone directory.
\bu may also contact:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
BEACH Program (4305T)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
web address: www.epa.gov/beaches
823F04024
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United States Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water (4101M)
EPA 823-F-04-024 • September 2004
Cover photos
Top: Ocean City Beach by Tex Jobe, US Army Corps of Engineers
Inset Photo: Gene Alexander, Natural Resources Conservation Service
Bottom: Richard Frear, USEPA Great Lakes National Program Office
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Is the water safe for swimming?
The water at the beach looks clean, but is it? It
may be worth your while to find out before you or
your children go swimming. The water at most beaches
is safe for swimming, most of the time. However, you
cannot be sure the beach water is safe unless it is tested
because your beach water may contain disease-causing
microorganisms that you cannot see.
Monitoring of beach water quality by local health and
environmental officials is necessary to warn citizens when
there is a problem. With the passage of the Beaches
Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health
(BEACH) Act on October 10, 2000, the Clean Water
Act was amended to include significant new beach
protection provisions. This new law authorizes a national
grant program to assist state, tribal, and local govern-
ments in developing and implementing monitoring and
public notification programs for their coastal recreation
waters. It also requires states to adopt improved water
quality standards for pathogens and pathogen indicators
and requires EPA to conduct studies and develop
improved microbiological water quality criteria guidance.
In addition, the law requires EPA to develop per-
formance criteria for monitoring, notification, and public
information databases and requires other federal agencies
to establish certain programs.
How does beach pollution affect you and
your family?
Water can be polluted by different things. Trash,
such as picnic plates, plastic bags and bottles,
and cigarette butts is easy to see. It is often the things
we can't see, such as bacteria and other microorganisms,
that we need to be more concerned about. If you or your
family are exposed to these disease-causing organisms,
they may make you sick.
Swimming or playing in
unsafe water may result
in minor illnesses such as
sore throats or diarrhea.
It also might result in
more serious illnesses
that may last longer
than your vacation at the
beach! Children, the elderly, and people with weakened
immune systems have a greater chance of getting sick
when they come in contact with contaminated water.
Where does this pollution come from?
The most frequent sources of disease-causing
microorganisms are sewage overflows, polluted
storm water runoff, sewage treatment plant malfunctions,
boating wastes, and malfunctioning septic systems.
Pollution in beach water is often much higher during
and immediately after rainstorms because water drain-
ing into the beach may be carrying sewage from over-
flowing sewage treatment systems. Rainwater also flows
to our beaches after running off lawns, farms, streets,
construction sites, and other urban areas, picking up
animal waste, fertilizer, pesticides, trash, and many
other pollutants. Many of these pollutants can end up in
the water at our beaches.
BEACH Program
The BEACH Program will help reduce health
risks to you and your family by minimizing your
exposure to disease-causing microorganisms in the water
where you swim or play. The BEACH Program is
ensuring public access to information about the quality
of their beach water. In addition, EPA is working with
state, tribal, and local health and environmental officials
to encourage use of faster tests to detect pollution as
well as develop methods that will help predict when
pollution may occur. With advance warning provided
by the local authorities, you will be able to decide when
and where to swim.
How do I get information about my
beach?
State, tribal, and local health and environmental
protection officials are responsible for monitoring
the quality of water at our nation's beaches. When they
find a beach is contaminated they may post warnings
or close the beach. \bur local public health or environ-
mental office can tell you if and when the water at your
beach is monitored, who does it, and where the results
are posted. Check with EPA's "Beach Watch" website
at www.epa/gov/beaches or contact your city, county, or
other local health officials listed in your local telephone
book.
Disease-Causing Microorganisms in Sewage
Microorganisms Some Illnesses & Symptoms
Bacteria Gastroenteritis (includes diarrhea and abdominal pain), salmonellosis (food
poisoning), cholera.
Viruses Fever, common colds, gastroenteritis, diarrhea, respiratory infections, hepatitis.
Protozoa Gastroenteritis, cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis (including diarrhea and abdominal
cramps), dysentery.
Worms Digestive disturbances, vomiting, restlessness, coughing, chest pain, fever, diarrhea.
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