'Poor' water quality: Health advisories issued for three Palm Beach County Beaches

Lianna Norman, Palm Beach Post
Updated ·2 min read
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On Tuesday, The Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County's Healthy Beaches Program issued health advisories for three beaches in Palm Beach County.

DOH-Palm Beach tests samples of ocean water from 15 beaches throughout the county, as recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency. A recent water sampling showed bacterial levels to be more than 71 colonies of a specific bacteria per milliliter of marine water for the three beaches, which is a "poor" rating for water quality.

Which Palm Beach County beaches were issued health advisories?

The beaches that received poor ratings are in Jupiter, Delray and Boca.

The following beaches are under a health advisory:

  • Dubois Park, Jupiter

  • Sandoway, Delray Beach

  • South Inlet Park, Boca Raton

Beaches that were tested and found satisfactory:

  • Jupiter Beach Park

  • Carlin Park, Jupiter

  • Riviera Beach

  • Phil Foster Park, Riviera Beach

  • Palm Beach Municipal, Palm Beach

  • Kreusler Park, Lake Worth

  • Ocean Inlet Park, Ocean Ridge

  • Boynton Beach

  • Spanish River, Boca Raton

  • Lantana Beach, Lantana

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What does the Department of Health look for in contaminated ocean water?

The bacteria that DOH-Palm Beach tests these beaches for is called enterococci. Enterococci can cause infections like UTIs, bacteremia, or bacteria in your blood, infective endocarditis, which is inflammation in your heart's inner lining, meningitis, intra-abdominal infections, and wound infections.

Most ocean water has bacteria like enterococci in it. We often swim in it without even knowing, but at a certain point it becomes a health risk. Over 71 colonies of enterococci in a 100-milliliter water sample is considered poor quality and swimming in it comes with some risk.

Here's how many colonies were found in the water samples of each beach under health advisory:

  • Dubois Park, Jupiter - 422 colonies

  • Sandoway, Delray Beach - 763 colonies

  • South Inlet Park, Boca Raton - 481 colonies

Is it safe to swim or fish near me?

If you want to make sure that the beach you're headed to is actually safe to swim at, check this map of water quality data to find out before you dive in.

Is it safe for swimming, fishing near me?

Lianna Norman covers trending news in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at lnorman@pbpost.com. You can follow her reporting on social media @LiannaNorman on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: These three Palm Beach County beaches got a "poor" water quality score