Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Health advisory closes beaches
Heavy rain washed waste from the sewers onto beaches, raising the risk that people could get sick if they go into the water. Poopy waters made some Miami-Dade and Palm Beach County beaches unsafe for swimming.
It’s not enough that we all sloshed through downpours this week, that the water puddled so deep it drowned our shoes, or that rivers rushed down our streets. Those same cloud bursts have washed waste from the sewers onto our beaches, raising the risk that people could get sick if they go into the water.
Poopy waters made MiamiDade and Palm Beach County beaches unsafe for swimming for days over the past few weeks, and it looks like the only solution will be a lot of sunshine and dry weather.
It’s typical to see high bacteria levels at the beach during the rainy season, experts say. Heavy rain overwhelms sewers and untreated wastewater overflows into waterways that eventually contaminate the ocean water.
That’s likely what caused swimming advisories at beaches in Miami-Dade County between Aug. 2 and Aug. 13, according to health department officials. Crando n Beach South and Haulover Beach South were unsafe for swimming due to high levels of fecal bacteria, according to the health department.
On Wednesday, four beaches in Palm Beach County were flagged: Duboi s Park, Lake Worth-Kreusler, Ocean Inlet Park and Lantana Beach.
Palm Beach County’s health department has issued advisories almost every week this month. First, it was Palm Beach Municipal. Lantana Beach soon followed.
County health departments test the beach water every Monday. Broward County beaches have been safe for swimming, despite poor water quality samples at Northeast 16th Street in Pompano and the Commercial Boulevard pier.
Stormwater runoff, which picks up all kinds of bacteria, including fecal particles from animal waste, can also contribute to the high bacteria levels, according to Samir Elmir, Director of Environmental Health at the Miami-Dade health department.
“The rain itself pushes more stormwater runoff through the storm drains, into the surface water and pollutes it,” he said.
“That’s why we see sometimes during the rainy season higher bacteria counts when we sample the water.”
All sorts of contaminants come from the environment and pollute the water, he said.
A 2018 study on beach water safety found the primary sources of fecal contamination in water were urban runoff and sewage leaks and overflows.
“When the rain comes down, there’s no place for the water to go to be absorbed by the soil, so it gets pulled toward the nearest waterway,” said John Rumpler, co-author of the study. “While that’s happening, it’s picking up this cocktail of pollutants, including fecal bacteria from bird poop, other animal and human waste, and it floats to places where people swim.”
People who come into contact with the water can experience gastrointestinal illness, respiratory disease, ear and eye infections and skin rashes, according to the study.
The long-term solution, according to Rumpler, is to implement better drainage methods.
“It’s too late to unpave everything in South Florida, but we can invest in rain barrels, rooftop gardens, community gardens and permeable pavement,” said Rumpler, who runs a Clean Water program for Environment America. “All of these things can reduce the problem of stormwater runoff and overwhelmed sewers.”