USF St. Pete beachfront in Bayboro Harbor

Source Information

Tampa Bay Waterkeeper is providing water quality data on Enterococci bacteria levels for recreational swimming, fishing, and boating areas in coastal Tampa Bay Counties. This is part of a monitoring project to support recreational water users in these communities in their efforts to obtain accurate and up-to-date water quality information in areas with no agency monitoring. Tampa Bay Waterkeeper collects the samples and brings them to a local third party lab for water quality analysis and data reports. Water is sampled for Enterococci at all sites. Sampling occurs bi-week year-round. Results are available 48 hours after samples are collected. Florida Administrative Code, based on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s 2012 Recreational Water Quality Criteria have the following rating criteria: Good= 0-35 CFU/MPN enterococci / 100 mL of marine water; Moderate= 36-70 CFU/MPN enterococci / 100 mL of marine water; and Poor= 71 CFU/MPN or greater enterococci / 100 mL of marine water. Swim Guide uses the thresholds for water quality based on the Florida Administrative Code. A beach is marked green (pass) when the sample results are equal or below 70 Enterococci / 100 ML water. A beach is marked red(fail) when the sample results are above 70 Enterococci / 100 ML water, according to EPA water quality guidelines. Data more than a week old will revert to “historical status”; clicking the pie chart icon will reveal a summary of the prior yearly or monthly pass/fail data. A sampling location is marked grey when no current or reliable monitoring information is available. Results are posted as soon as lab results are available. Results will be communicated through the Swim Guide websites and apps and Tampa Bay Waterkeeper website.