How do we determine when the beaches are safe for swimming?

The use of Lake Erie and other public waters for swimming is a valuable recreational resource for the people of Ohio and elsewhere in the United States. Water-resource managers and the scientific commu­nity have recognized the need for rapid methods to determine the quality of these recreational waters to adequately protect public health.

Fecal-indicator bacteria, such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) and fecal coliforms, are used to determine the risk of contracting waterborne disease from fecal-contaminated recreational waters. Fecal-indicator bacteria are not necessarily pathogens ( disease-causing organisms), but their presence can indicate the possible presence of pathogens. Although improvements to existing sewage treatment systems are continuously being made in many areas, fecal contamination is still a possibility. Therefore, findings from carefully designed monitoring programs are needed to inform the public on the risk of swimming in fecal-contaminated waters.

Current methods to assess the concentrations of fecal indicators-that is, the number of bacteria in a certain volume of water-take at least 24 hours to complete. Due to the long time frame, some scientists have suggested using other water-quality or environ­mental surrogates (substitutes) to determine these concentrations. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is working to address this concern in a study con­ducted at three Lake Erie beaches in the Cleveland, Ohio, area. The study has shown that turbidity (the amount of light scattered or absorbed by suspended materials in a water sample), rainfall, and wave height could be used in a statistical model to predict E. coli concentrations.