West Beach water study floats to next level

["Meredith Nevers" <meredith_nevers@usgs.gov>]

West Beach water study floats to next level

Pilot program aims for national model for same-day beach water testing

BY DAVID MITCHELL Times Staff Writer

Officials are kicking into high gear a program that began at the Indiana
Dunes National Lakeshore's West Beach last year and could serve as a
national model for rapidly testing beach water quality to ensure swimmers
are not at risk.

The pilot program, dubbed the National Epidemiological and Environmental
Assessment of Recreational Water study, began late last summer at the
beach, with the National Lakeshore working in conjunction with the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.

Ultimately, the goal of the first-of-its-kind test -- scheduled to run
through 2005 -- is to develop a way to test for harmful bacteria in
recreational waters and generate results within hours.

"Hopefully, in a year or two, there may be some prototype rapid technology
for monitoring water quality," said Murulee Byappanahalli, a research
microbiologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Porter who helps test the
waters along the National Lakeshore.

Preliminary studies began last August and included a beachgoer health
survey so researchers could follow up with swimmers and determine if they
had suffered any adverse health effects.

"Mainly, what they were doing was testing the technique," National
Lakeshore Superintendent Dale Engquist said. "They got very good results
last year."

The tests most likely will take place every weekend until August.

One of the biggest problems with current beach water testing, a method that
examines the levels of E. coli in the water, is that it takes a day to
receive results. That means beaches could be closed when the water is safe,
and open when there presumably is a health risk for swimmers.

Health and recreation officials would embrace an opportunity to be able to
determine in hours whether bacteria levels are too high to be considered
safe.

Aside from the time factor, though, is the fact that officials are unable
to determine through current testing whether the levels of bacteria in the
water are even harmful if ingested by swimmers. Primarily, it is strains of
bacteria generated through raw sewage that pose health risks.

But research shows that E. coli may be a poor indicator because it doesn't
necessarily result from sewage. In fact, the bacteria grows naturally in
some cases and very likely is not harmful if ingested. Officials hope the
new testing will generate an indicator more closely linked to health
issues.

"The most important thing is to look for an indicator or indicators of
human contamination," Byappanahalli said.

To that end, Engquist said a battery of new tests dealing with bacteria
other than E. coli will be used during the West Beach program.

For example, Engquist said testing may examine the presence of substances
such as caffeine in the water. While E. coli is somewhat abundant and
relatively unknown in terms of its origin, caffeine would almost definitely
indicate the presence of human waste in the water, Engquist said.

David Mitchell can be reached at dmitchell@nwitimes.com or (219) 462-5151,
Ext. 346.







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