# Bacteria in water off SW FL beaches (2014)



## LMD (Jul 28, 2014)

Read this if you are traveling to SW FL and going to the beach. Bacteria levels are up this time of year. Here is a list of our local beaches with water quality concerns

http://www.nbc-2.com/story/26121317...ns-a-dozen-beaches-in-sw-florida#.U9Yn8_ldXTc


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## johnrsrq (Jul 28, 2014)

LMD said:


> Read this if you are traveling to SW FL and going to the beach. Bacteria levels are up this time of year. Here is a list of our local beaches with water quality concerns
> 
> http://www.nbc-2.com/story/26121317...ns-a-dozen-beaches-in-sw-florida#.U9Yn8_ldXTc



We've had various beaches off limits from week to week. There are many factors including of course run off from rains into estuaries, pesticides, bird waste, other animal waste, septic human waste, and others all contribute to the elevated readings.  Here's a State of Florida link to beach water quality checks. We want the EPA money up here too  

I check before going to the beach about the water quality. Crystal clear and beautiful has been my experience. Glad they check it here.
http://www.floridahealth.gov/environmental-health/beach-water-quality/index.html


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## Conan (Jul 28, 2014)

Terrific resource - - thanks for posting.


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## theo (Jul 28, 2014)

*Lame reporting --- where's the beef?*



LMD said:


> http://www.nbc-2.com/story/26121317...ns-a-dozen-beaches-in-sw-florida#.U9Yn8_ldXTc



A somewhat "detail-free" bit of reporting here, no?  

Anyone genuinely concerned would likely want to know exactly *what* bacteria are being found to be present in excess. *E. coli*, for example, would plainly suggest significant sewerage discharge from somewhere ---  a major (and disgusting) health hazard. Flesh-eating bacteria is still another even more dangerous possibility. 
Red Tide, on the other hand, is not even bacterial at all; it's algae.

Has any of the local reporting been any more informative and detailed than this very vague and eminently uninformative NBC piece?


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## SherryS (Jul 28, 2014)

http://coolgate.mote.org/beachconditions/
I use this Mote website and click on my area of interest and my favorite beach.  You can find out if there are dead fish or irritation in the air (red tide), wave conditions, and "flag" conditions.


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## johnrsrq (Jul 30, 2014)

*another Gulf water article on bacteria*

open wound think twice?

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20140730/article/140739997?p=1&tc=pg


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## JudyH (Jul 31, 2014)

Thanks for posting this.  We haven't been so far this summer for various reasons.  Might have to just use the community pool.  Hope that's cleaner:ignore:


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## theo (Jul 31, 2014)

*Thanks!*



johnrsrq said:


> http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20140730/article/140739997?p=1&tc=pg



Thank you for posting this informative link which, unlike the lame NBC article referenced earlier above (and most likely written from a desk many states away from FL), *this* article  actually contains some clear and factual identification (and further explanation) regarding the offending bacteria.


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## SueDonJ (Jul 31, 2014)

theo said:


> A somewhat "detail-free" bit of reporting here, no?
> 
> Anyone genuinely concerned would likely want to know exactly *what* bacteria are being found to be present in excess. *E. coli*, for example, would plainly suggest significant sewerage discharge from somewhere ---  a major (and disgusting) health hazard. Flesh-eating bacteria is still another even more dangerous possibility.
> Red Tide, on the other hand, is not even bacterial at all; it's algae.
> ...





theo said:


> Thank you for posting this informative link which, unlike the lame NBC article referenced earlier above (and most likely written from a desk many states away from FL), *this* article  actually contains some clear and factual identification (and further explanation) regarding the offending bacteria.



Geeeeze.  These read _to me_ like you're criticizing the OP for not having enough details to report.  Just think, if LMD hadn't posted at all then other TUGgers (perhaps with better search skills?) might not have been given a heads-up at all.

Thanks, LMD, for making us aware.


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## theo (Jul 31, 2014)

*Nope...*



SueDonJ said:


> Geeeeze.  These read like you're criticizing the OP for not having enough details to report.  Just think, if LMD hadn't posted at all then other TUGgers (perhaps with better search skills?) might not have been given a heads-up at all.



Not at all. With all due respect (and your "moderator" status notwithstanding), yours is a *completely* unfounded misinterpretation of both my posts and my clear intent. 

I was crystal clear in directly pinpointing my criticism at the NBC article, which had too little (i.e., almost no) factual details and which was therefore quite thoroughly uninformative. No more, no less, no doubt or question. 

Read more closely --- and then get over it. As a moderator, you can certainly intervene if I ever submit any inappropriate input (which would be a first for me), but this very clearly is not any such occasion. Geeeeze, indeed.


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## SueDonJ (Jul 31, 2014)

theo said:


> Not at all. With all due respect (and your "moderator" status notwithstanding), yours is a *completely* unfounded misinterpretation of both my posts and my intent.
> 
> I was very clear in directly pinpointing my criticism at the NBC article, which had too little (i.e., almost no) factual details and was therefore quite uninformative. No more, no less.
> 
> Read more closely --- and get over it. Feel free to intervene on any inappropriate input I may ever submit (which would certainly be a first), but this clearly ain't any such occasion.



Could be something's lost in translation, sure, so I've edited my post to add, "to me" - not anything at all to do with moderation.  But I will now say, as a moderator, that "get over it" isn't exactly the type of courteous discourse that's expected on TUG.


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## theo (Jul 31, 2014)

SueDonJ said:


> Could be something's lost in translation, sure, so I've edited my post to add, "to me" - not anything at all to do with moderation.  But I will now say, as a moderator, that "get over it" isn't exactly the type of courteous discourse that's expected on TUG.



Nothing there to be "lost in translation" IMnsHO --- and btw, courtesy is a two way street. 'Nuff said...


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## johnrsrq (Aug 1, 2014)

*well another look at might be warranted*



JudyH said:


> Thanks for posting this.  We haven't been so far this summer for various reasons.  Might have to just use the community pool.  Hope that's cleaner:ignore:



http://newsroom.doh.state.fl.us/2014/07/25/information-on-vibrio-vulnificus/


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## davidgreams (Sep 28, 2019)

99.9% is nowhere near "virtually all" in almost any sort of bacteriological reduction testing. I run tests like these on a daily basis, and for most water filter testing, you aim for greater than log6 reduction (>99.9999%) before even thinking about pushing the filter for the next stage of verification. As for disinfectants, it is still a higher benchmark (a minimum of >99.99%) than what this article is boasting.

Viruses are typically more fragile than bacteria, and you will usually see viruses subjected to greater levels of reduction when it comes to disinfectants, but they are much smaller than bacteria, and require better filters to get them out.

The opposite is true for sporulating organisms, such as clostridium difficile, which are much larger than bacteria and viruses, but much, much harder to kill. Something that reduces bacteria by only 3 log would hardly touch c. diff.

Source: Google.


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## Sea Six (Sep 28, 2019)

What a coincidence that this get brought back from the dead.  Just a day or two ago it was on the news that the beach on the south end of Sanibel was closed due to high bacteria count.  Right at the Casa Ybel, where someone was just asking about.


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## Laurie (Sep 28, 2019)

Red tide too.
https://www.news-press.com/story/te...ral-outbreak-bloom-karenia-brevis/2388848001/


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## Sea Six (Oct 4, 2019)

You guessed it.  News tonight about dead fish washing ashore from Ft Myers to Bonita to Naples due to red tide.  They say we are not getting enough rain.


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## LMD (Oct 6, 2019)

Yup...here we go again

https://www.naplesnews.com/story/ne...eFbc9j_J2ISSFZ3wWkV6Tir0t2dLbM4n3boOodQWR8yUU


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## Laurie (Oct 6, 2019)

https://myfwc.com/media/21895/swmap1004.pdf


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## silentg (Oct 6, 2019)

Thanks for the info!


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## Sea Six (Oct 6, 2019)

We've owned a time share here on Marco Island for 30 years.  Used to be a very busy place, even in early October.  We are letting our son's family use the unit this week.  Went to visit, and it was a ghost town.  The streets had no traffic, the pool had 5 people in it, 80% of the pool lounges were empty, and the beach was empty.  Between hurricane Irma 2 years ago and these constant water issues, people are going to other places.  Don't think ANY Europeans come here anymore.  We used to get a lot.  The list of time shares for sale is long, and the prices are way down from what they used to be.


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## Laurie (Oct 7, 2019)

Florida Fish & Wildlife updates their red-tide maps daily and reports on most recent 8 days - a handy guide for FL trip planning - their website is here and the link to the map is right at the top:

https://myfwc.com/


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