Florida Department of Health Palm Beach County has posted a HEALTH ADVISORY for three beaches, Phil Foster, Jupiter Beach and Boynton Beach after recent sampling showed bacterial levels in the water to be greater than 71 colonies per 100 milliliters of marine water putting this beach in the POOR range.

Causes of the elevated level that prompted the advisory are unknown but are generally associated with wildlife, heavy recreational usage, high surf from high winds and high tides or runoff following heavy rains. The DOH-Palm Beach always encourages rinsing with fresh water after swimming in any natural body of water.

Health department staff samples the beach waters at 13 locations 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 at www.flhealthpalmbeach.org and click on “beach water quality”.

*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:  09-18-17

Site	Name	City	Fecal Coliform	Enterococci	Enteroc Geo Mean	Water   Quality	Status
1	Dubois Park	Jupiter		50		Moderate	Satisfactory
2	Jupiter Beach   Park	Jupiter		80		Poor	Advisory
3	Carlin Park	Jupiter		60		Moderate	Satisfactory
4	Riviera Beach	Riviera Bch		20		Good	Satisfactory
5	Phil Foster	Riviera Bch		200		Poor	Advisory
7	Palm Beach	Palm Beach		<10		Good	Satisfactory
8	Lake Worth- Kreusler	Lake Worth		Not Sampled		N/A	N/A
9	Ocean Inlet Park	Ocean Ridge		20		Good	Satisfactory
10	Boynton Beach	Ocean Ridge		80		Poor	Advisory
12	Sandoway-Delray Bch	Delray Bch		20		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