Water quality results displayed at this location were collected by the Florida Department of Health’s (DOH) Florida Healthy Beaches (FHB) program from Tuesday through Friday and by Surfrider Miami (www.miami.surfrider.org) from Friday through Monday. FHB may recollect water samples from a beach on subsequent days if a water quality issue is detected. The information is updated by Miami Waterkeeper (www.miamiwaterkeeper.org), a local nonprofit focused on ensuring clean water.

All local sampling programs collect weekly recreational water samples to test for levels of enterococci, a type of bacteria that indicates that pathogenic bacteria and viruses associated with fecal pollution may be present. These bacteria are known as fecal indicator bacteria (FIB). Analysis of samples takes 24 hours to culture before results are available. DOH sampling occurs on Mondays; Surfrider Miami sampling occurs on Thursdays. All local sampling programs on Swim Guide also use the thresholds for water quality as written in the Florida Administrative Code, based on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s 2012 Recreational Water Quality Criteria: Good= 0-35 CFU/MPN enterococci / 100 mL of marine water; Moderate= 36-69 CFU/MPN enterococci / 100 mL of marine water; and Poor= 70 CFU/MPN or greater enterococci / 100 mL of marine water. Swim Guide uses a color system to quickly indicate water quality; green=Good, yellow=Moderate, and red=Poor. Data more than a week old will revert the to “historical status”; clicking the pie chart icon will reveal a summary of the prior yearly or monthly of pass/fail data. A sampling location is marked GREY when no current or reliable monitoring information is available.

The DOH will only issue a formal “swim advisory” after two failed tests in a row; Miami Waterkeeper will mark a beach as “RED” on Swim Guide after a single failed test is reported. These conservative advisories inform vulnerable people (children, elderly, and the immunocompromised) who have elevated health risks due to water quality at the beach.

Miami Waterkeeper will also mark a beach as "Special Status" if information comes from other sources indicating that the water is unsafe, for example, a sewage leak, red tide, or oil spill. If data is more than a week old, sites will show a historical record of water quality data from a given site.

Surfrider Foundation’s Blue Water Task Force (BWTF) is a volunteer-run citizen science initiative and water quality monitoring program. Surfrider Miami tests the same beaches as the Florida Healthy Beaches program, but on Thursdays, in order to increase sampling frequency. Anyone may view or download the results at go.surfrider.org/BWTF and miami.surfrider.org/BWTF. Visit Surfrider Miami at www.miami.surfrider.org. Any additional questions about Surfrider Miami’s Blue Water Task Force program or our results can be addressed to Scott Stripling: atlarge2@miami.surfrider.org

The Department of Health’s Florida Healthy Beaches program is a state-run initiative in partnership with Miami-Dade County and 33 other coastal counties in the state of Florida. The Florida Healthy Beaches program has been collecting and analyzing water samples from beaches and reporting FIB levels since 2000. (http://www.floridahealth.gov/environmental-health/beach-water-quality)

Visit Miami Waterkeeper at www.miamiwaterkeeper.org/water_monitoring or email hello@miamiwaterkeeper.org if you have any additional questions or to view a complete set of monitoring data.