x>EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water EPA - 823-F-08-005
4305T
May 2008
Great Lakes Beach Sanitary Survey Tool
Summary
EPA is announcing the availability of the Great
Lakes Beach Sanitary Survey Tool. This tool
helps beach managers in the Great Lakes
identify sources of bacterial contamination at
their beaches so that these sources can be
corrected or cleaned up, and thus results in more
days that beaches are open. The tool consists of
a User's Manual and three types of beach
sanitary surveys in paper and electronic form.
EPA expects that use of the tool will result in
cleaner beaches in the Great Lakes. Although
the Great Lakes Beach Sanitary Survey was
developed and piloted in the Great Lakes, the
concept is applicable in any beach environment
(marine and inland waters).
Background on Sanitary Surveys
A sanitary survey is a method of investigating
the sources of fecal contamination to a water
body. Sanitary surveys are typically used for
drinking water, shellfish, and watershed
protection programs. They can also be used at
beaches that do not meet water quality
standards.
Sanitary surveys help identify sources of
pollution, assess the magnitude of pollution, and
identify priority locations for sampling.
Utility of Beach Sanitary Surveys
A beach sanitary survey is an evaluation of the
beach area and surrounding watershed for
existing and potential pollution sources and
safety hazards that might influence the quality of
bathing beach water, with a focus on fecal
pollution. Beach sanitary surveys help state and
local beach program managers and public health
officials gather information to use in identifying
sources of bacterial contamination at beaches.
Information is collected at the beach, as well as
in the contributing watershed.
Information collected at the beach may include:
- number of birds at the beach
- slope of the beach
- location and condition of bathrooms, and
- amount of algae on the beach.
Information collected in the watershed may
include:
- land use,
- location of storm water outfalls,
- surface water quality, and
- residential septic tank information.
Beach managers can use the data obtained
during the process of conducting a sanitary
survey to prioritize state or county resource
allocation to help improve bathing beach water
quality. In addition, they can use sanitary survey
data (e.g., bacteria levels, source flow, turbidity,
rainfall) to develop models to predict bathing
beach water quality using readily available data.
Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy
A May 2004 Presidential Executive Order
created the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force
to improve federal coordination in addressing
Great Lakes issues and encouraged creation of a
Regional Collaboration of National Significance
to address environmental problems in the Great
Lakes. The federal Great Lakes Interagency
Task Force, the Council of Great Lakes
Governors, the Great Lakes Cities Initiative,
Great Lakes tribes and the Great Lakes
Congressional Task Force convened a group
now known as the Great Lakes Regional
Collaboration (GLRC).
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In December 2005, the Great Lakes Regional
Collaboration (GLRC) published the Great
Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy
(http://www.glrc.us/strategy.html') to protect and
restore the Great Lakes. Of the Strategy's eight
priority elements, the Coastal Health Chapter
specifically addresses beach water quality. To
that end, EPA is working with the states to
develop beach sanitary surveys to identify
sources of contamination at Great Lakes
beaches.
The Great Lakes Beach Sanitary Survey Tool
The Beach Sanitary Survey Tool was
developed as an action under the 2004
GLRC. The GLRC is a cooperative effort to
design and implement a strategy for the
restoration, protection, and sustainable use
of the Great Lakes. EPA worked in
collaboration with state beach managers to
develop a draft Beach Sanitary Survey Tool
in 2006. In the summer of 2007, the Beach
Sanitary Survey Tool was tested at 61
beaches in the Great Lakes, under a one-
time grant amount of $525,000. The state
and local governments testing the tool
provided comments to EPA, who then used
these comments to develop this final Beach
Sanitary Survey Tool.
For More Information
For more information on the marine sanitary
survey, please contact Rick Hoffmann (202-566-
0388 orhoffmann.rick@epa.gov).
For the survey instruments, and for information
about an introductory webinar, go to:
http://water.epa.gov/tvpe/oceb/beaches/sanitarys
urvev index.cfm
For general information about beaches go to:
http://water.epa.gov/type/oceb/beaches/
For information about a specific beach go to:
http://watersgeo.epa.gov/beacon2/.
To find your EPA Regional or state beach
program representative go to:
water.epa.gov/tvpe/oceb/beaches/whereyoulive
state, cfm.
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