SWIM AT YOUR OWN RISK

[AJE]

Special database: Record beach closings

Gannett News

WASHINGTON - Beaches across the country closed or posted warnings to swimmers a record number of times last year because of high levels of harmful bacteria, evidence that communities should do more to keep vacation beaches clean and safe, according to a national environmental group.


This link will take you to a searchable database of more than 3,500 beaches across the U.S., including 117 in Wisconsin.

http://gns.gannettonline.com/apps/pb...tegory=beaches



RED SIGN
The red sign indicates a more serious health risk to people who
come into contact with the water. When the amount of E. coli in
beach water is found to be at very high levels (more than 1,000
colony forming units per 100ml of water), the “Closed” sign is posted
and visitors are advised to keep out of the water. The sign may
also be posted after events that are associated with increased levels
of E. coli, such as a sewer overflow or large rainstorms, or under
any other circumstances when local health officials determine that
the beach should be closed in the interest of public health.
The sign remains posted until conditions improve and/or the next
water test shows E. coli counts have dropped below this level.

[AJE]

Our Beaches are Hurting

Whether you are walking a remote stretch of Schoolhouse Beach on Washington Island or playing volleyball on Two Rivers Neshotah waterfront park, our Wisconsin beaches serve as gathering spots for friends, families, and people of all ages, cultures, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

They help weave us together as communities. Unfortunately, bacteria, viruses, and other “germs” from animal and human excrete often puts our region’s beaches in peril. The contaminations ultimately get embedded in the Great Lakes as well as their tributaries thanks to our sewer drainage, wildlife, and any agricultural runoff.

I hope to provide some guidelines on Beach Contamination through some easy steps intended to help you understand why beaches close, and how we can attempt to minimize these ailments for ultimately a healthier beach ecology.

[AJE]

Beach Closings are a Public Health Issue

These pollutants can linger in water and wet sand hidden from sight but yet still do the damage of getting the whole family ill. County and State officials are often forced to close public beaches when bacteria levels exceed acceptable health limits. Bacteria, viruses and pathogens may cause us great discomfort with vomiting, diarrhea, stomachache, nausea, headache, and fever. Other forms of bacteria can further cause giardiasis, amoebic dysentery, skin rashes, and pink eye. Everyone needs to be aware to minimize the exposure.

Unfortunately, sometimes the agencies entrusted with caring for our beaches do not have enough basic information to know whether your community even has a problem. To help eliminate the largest known source of beach contamination, sewage oveflows, you'll need to understand some environmental geography and how what we do on a dalily basis will go directly into our shores with impurities that disrupt our own lives.

[AJE]

Aging Sewer Systems Contribute to the Problem

Many sewer systems in urban areas were built over a hundred years ago and were designed for a much smaller capacity of users. Some cities combine sewer systems pipins that carry rainwater from storm sewers with the pipes. Used to haul domestic and industrial wastewater. This would include water that we use in our homes such as showering, fushing the toilet and washing dishes. These pipes often fail to maximum capacity during heavy rainstorms. Unfortunately when the sewer systems reach capacity, extra sewage, which includes human, animal, and industrial waste, is usually discharged into our lakes, rivers and streams, making them contaminated. These discharges are called, combined sewer overflows or CSOs.


Aging Sewer Systems Contribute to the Problem

Then other communities have separate pipes for sanitary waste and stormwater (separated sewers). Just like combined sewer systems, separated systems can have capacity troubles and experience oveflows. These overflows are called sanitary sewer overflows or SSOs. Not all communities are served by sewage treatment plants. Many homeowners in country bergs and rural areas must provide their own septic system. Even these systems leak sewage directly into streams, YUK. With age
sewer lines can fail thanks to crumbling, corrosion and pure age the septic systems will leak a smelly flood of hell, trust me I have seen it happen! These inconveniences will allow raw sewage to enter both the surface and groundwater.


:arrow: Hold on its not all that bad, I do carry good news. My guidelines will outline a variety of measures you can take for mitigating or safeguard your community from unnecessary health risks associated with bacterial/viral pollution. Because every beach is different, this may not be intended for all places depending on the degree of contamination and if its been contained; rather, this is to provide a game plan which we all can utilize for the entire Great Lakes shores.

[AJE]

Make Changes Around Your Home

While water use at home is a smaller source of point pollution than larger industrial and agricultural sectors, practicing water conservation at home can ease pollution to local watersheds, rivers, and beaches. Every bit we do will counts in the short and long term. Plus, imagine all you’ll learn from practicing water conservation in and around the home which can also be applied to your jobsite.

What you can do:

:arrow: During storms, delay activities that require a lot of water, such as laundry or washing dishes.

For example automatic lawn sprinkling systems can sometimes will continuing to water lawns, even while it’s raining! When this water leaves your home or lawn it can enter the sewer system and contribute even more to an already burdened system. This extra water increases the chances that untreated sewage will be released to a river, lake, or stream.

:arrow: Keep your septic system in proper working order.

:arrow: Have your septic system pumped out annually and inspected regularly. An overloaded or broken septic system can leak sewage into the surrounding ground and water.

:arrow: Eliminate or minimize your use of manure as fertilizer on gardens and lawns.

:arrow: During rainfalls, these wastes can get washed into local sewers. Try using composted food waste from home recycling as a fertilizer for gardens.

[AJE]

Responsible Beachgoers

Waste from wildlife is a source of bacteria on the beach and in the water. Garbage, especially leftover food from picnics, can attract gulls, raccoons, opossums and lord knows what else to the beachfront. The wildlife then leaves their discharge all over the beaches and over time this can cause enough contamination to red flag the coast.

:arrow: Don¡'t feed seagulls or any other wildlife you encounter at the beach by doing so your aiding to the dilemma. The animals/birds will adapt to being fed by humans very quickly.

:arrow: Properly dispose of your trash in waste receptacles. Ask your local beach management agency to provide trash bins that are large enough to contain leftover garbage, even from long holiday weekends.


:arrow: Infants and toddlers are advised to wear rubber pants if they go in the water. Research concludes that waste from children does contribute to beach contamination. Incontinent adults or adults experiencing any type of gastrointestinal illness should avoid swimming in
the water as well.

:arrow: Ask your local park/beach management agency to clean up dead
Alewives. For those who don't know Alewives are a small fish that wash up onto beaches, at times in great numbers. As they decay they contribute bacteria to the lake and attract feral or scavenger wildlife, which in turn deposit additional waste on the beach.

[AJE]

Next Practice Proper Pet Management While Visiting the Waterfront

All pet owners enjoy walking their 4-legged friends and playing freebee with them at the beach. The wastes from our pets, whether in our yard or at the beach, is a source of thriving bacteria that can contaminate our waters. You can help reduce the impact of your pet’s excretion by following some simple steps.

:arrow: Properly dispose of your pet’s waste, while at the beach. Doggie Bags will do just fine.

:arrow: Properly dispose of the pet’s waste on your lawn and when walking your pet around the neighborhood. If left on lawns, sidewalks, or alleys, pet waste will wash into local sewers and waterways. Remember this too goes right into our permeable soils to the aquasheds and eventually right down to the lakes.

:arrow: Dog beaches should be properly laid out and carefully monitored. Dog beaches are becoming more popular, and controversial, in some cities. If they are going to exist, they should not lead to beach contamination or migratory bird disturbances.

[AJE]

Rare but very deadly amoeba infection hard to prevent...

In the hot summer months when the amoeba flourishes, he said, doctors need to learn to look for the symptoms of an amoeba-related illness.

"Physicians have to consider it. The public needs to consider it," Sherin said. "If you have a flu-like illness or a bad headache following swimming in a freshwater body and the temperature is over 80 degrees Fahrenheit, be aware of this."


However, only a handful of doctors have seen a patient with the rare amoeba.

Until this summer there were only 24 known cases of the virus in the U.S. since 1989, according to the CDC.

Health officials cannot explain the spike in cases this summer, except that weather plays a factor.

"Because it's been such a hot summer, that has contributed to warmer water temperatures and lower water levels and that makes an ideal environment for the amoeba," said Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine of the Arizona Department of Health, which is investigating a death last month there tied to the amoeba.

Another question health officials have is why the amoeba seems to appear more often in young males. All six victims this summer were male, ages 10 to 22 years old. One theory, the CDC says, is that young males might be more likely to engage in water sports such as water skiing or wakeboarding. Those can lead to greater exposure to the amoeba.

But other than wearing nose plugs while swimming or staying out of freshwater above 80 degrees Fahrenheit, there is little people can do to prevent exposure to the amoeba.

Rare but deadly amoeba infection hard to prevent - CNN.com


Division of Parasitic Diseases - Naegleria Infection Fact Sheet

[AJE]

Amoebas enter the body through the nose and travel to the brain, where they feed until the person dies.

The only way to get infected is to snort water. A person can drink water that has Naegleria fowleri and never be infected.

The amoeba lives in soil and is often present in warm bodies of water, particularly hot springs and lakes.

Pools, if not chlorinated properly, can become homes to the microbes Tucson Water joined Maricopa County cities in a study of well water in 2005 to determine the amoeba's presence in drinking water and develop treatment to eliminate any potential health risks.