By Communications Office
Contact:
Communications Office
Chd50Contactus@FLHealth.gov
561-671-4014
Palm Beach County, Fla. –The Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County Healthy Beaches program has issued a health advisory for Ocean Inlet Park after a recent sampling showed bacterial levels to be more than 71 colonies per milliliter of marine water putting it in the poor range.
Generally poor ratings are associated with wildlife, heavy recreational usage, high surf from high winds and high tides, or runoff following heavy rains. DOH-Palm Beach always encourages rinsing with fresh water after swimming in any natural body of water.
DOH-Palm Beach samples beach water for 15 sites from Boca Raton to Jupiter for enterococci as recommended by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the EPA. The samples are laboratory tested for concentrations and a value assigned to indicate poor*, moderate or good ranges.
Beach water quality for Palm Beach County and throughout the state can be found on the DOH “Beach Water Quality” page.
*A Poor rating may result in a resampling event to confirm poor conditions otherwise a Health Advisory will be issued immediately. These indicate that contact with the water at this site may pose increased risk of infectious disease, particularly for susceptible individuals.
Beach Action Values (BAV) Enterococcus Results Description
Date of Sample: 10/9/2023
| Site | Name | City | Enterococci | Water Quality | Status |
| 1 | Dubois Park | Jupiter | 31 | Good | Satisfactory |
| 2 | Jupiter Beach Park | Jupiter | <10 | Good | Satisfactory |
| 3 | Carlin Park | Jupiter | <10 | Good | Satisfactory |
| 4 | Riviera Beach | Riviera Bch | <10 | Good | Satisfactory |
| 5 | Phil Foster Park | Riviera Bch | <10 | Good | Satisfactory |
| 7 | Palm Beach Municipal | Palm Beach | <10 | Good | Satisfactory |
| 8 | Lake Worth- Kreusler | Lake Worth | <10 | Good | Satisfactory |
| 9 | Ocean Inlet Park | Ocean Ridge | 218 | Poor | Advisory |
| 10 | Boynton Beach | Ocean Ridge | <10 | Good | Satisfactory |
| 12 | Sandoway-Delray Bch | Delray Bch | 10 | Good | Satisfactory |
| 13 | Spanish River | Boca Raton | <10 | Good | Satisfactory |
| 14 | South Inlet Park | Boca Raton | <10 | Good | Satisfactory |
| 15 | Lantana Beach | Lantana | <10 | Good | Satisfactory |
United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) recommended criteria for enterococci is:
Good = 0-35 Enterococci per 100 milliliters of marine water
Moderate = 36-70 Enterococci per 100 milliliters of marine water
Poor = 71 or greater Enterococci per 100 milliliters of marine water or 36 or greater enterococci per 100ml of marine water as a geometric mean over a five-week period.
An Advisory is issued for a beach that samples in the “Poor” range of the EPA standards. This should beconsidered a potential health risk to the bathing public.