The Berrien County Health Department has begun its beach monitoring program for the summer.
Department Environmental Health Supervisor Brian Murphy tells us a grant enables the department to go around Lake Michigan beaches throughout the county once a week taking samples to be tested for E coli. Staff wade out into water about waist deep to collect the samples.
“Our team goes out there with the sampling bottles and the documents and we pick at least three different spots on the beach to sample to get a nice composite sampling,” Murphy said.
The samples are sent to a lab right away so results can be obtained the next day. Murphy says if a given beach is found to have a high E coli level, the health department will issue a no-swim advisory for the affected beach.
So, what causes E coli levels to be high?
“There are sources. It could be from roadside ditches or illicit waste connections or storm runoff or agriculture runoff. There are sources. But, in our area, it’s usually from that sanitary sewer or storm sewer or some overflow from a heavy rain.”
But Murphy says it can often be difficult to pinpoint an exact reason for a high E coli level.
The results of the E coli testing are posted to the Beachguard website run by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, and anyone can check them. You can also sign up to have alerts sent to you when a particular beach tests high.
