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Newport Beach Maintains Ocean Water Protection Program |
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Before you jump into the waters at Newport Beach, take a look around. If you see any signs stating Beach Closed, then get out of the water and take a good bath with a reliable anti-bacterial soap. Your body may just have been contaminated by bacteria-laden waters.
Newport Beach in California may be at the forefront of efforts to maintain the cleanliness of beach waters through its Ocean Water Protection Program. For over 40 years now, the South Orange County Wastewater Authority has been cooperating with the Orange County Sanitation District and the Health Care Agency to test Orange County harbor, bay and coastal ocean waters to determine if harmful bacteria are present in the waters. It is important to identify the presence of such harmful bacteria since these may show the existence of organisms that can spread disease among the human population venturing into harbor, bay and coastal ocean waters. When the Health Care Agency Environmental Health technologists are able to detect significant levels of bacterial contamination of Orange County waters, the beach is closed to the public until authorities are able to track down the source of the bacterial contamination.
The presence of bacteria in Orange County waters could be traced to urban or storm water runoff, human waste (such as fecal matter released by adults, and children in diapers, into the water), animal wastes from animals such as rabbits, cats, dogs and birds, or perhaps decaying vegetation and soil runoff from the surrounding environment. The bacteria that can be detected through testing may be certain Shigella strains, Salmonella (excluding typhi), and E. Coli. You can contract intestinal parasites such as Giardia lamblia, and Cryptosporidium from tainted waters. Viruses can also be contracted through swimming in polluted water (including Hepatitis A usually from eating shellfish contaminated with sewage; Adenovirus; Norwalk and similar viruses; Enteroviruses; and Rotavirus.) When such bacteria are deemed to be present, these harmful organisms could mean that viruses, pathogens and other bacteria are also present in the waters.
The testing will determine whether the beach will have the following levels of status:
- Open this means that there may be bacteria but not to the level that state standards believe they can be harmful.
- Closed the beach (meaning the sandy part) itself may be open for use by the public, but the waters have been made off-limits due to presence of bacteria due to illegal dumping of sewage into the waters.
- Warning this indicates that the population of bacteria has surpassed the levels of safety in waters spanning 150 feet downcoast and 150 feet upcoast. When this is the status of the beach, the public should avoid contact with river, creek or storm drain waters as well.
- Advisory this is the status of a beach and its waters when storm water runoff has drained into the beach waters after a downpour. This means officials have to bar individuals from swimming for at least three days since the downpour (or 72 hours.)
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