Beach predictive bacteria level test program

Half Moon Bay Review/Julia Reis, 1/8/15.  "Research dives into ocean bacteria. Stanford scientists test beach safety forcasting system."

 Hello bacteria, here I come

Stanford University researchers are preparing to test a program that they believe could make a trip to California’s beaches safer for swimmers and surfers.

Analysis from the first phase of the two-part project was recently released under the title “Sunny with a Chance of Gastroenteritis: Predicting Swimmer Risk at California Beaches.” A joint endeavor between Stanford, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the nonprofit Heal the Bay, the study aims for a pilot predictive model that would enable agencies to obtain faster results for indicator bacteria tests at beaches. The research is being funded by the California State Water Resources Control Board.

“Usually a measurement takes 24 hours to know the result of the concentration in the water sample, but (water conditions) change dynamically in a very short time scale,” said Anthony Thoe, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral scholar in civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University. “It is not adequate to know bacterial concentrations after 24 hours.”   Read article. 

Note photograph from the Wendy Lisica, "Follow me there and back again" blog, Ocean Beach, San Diego.

Posted by Kathy Meeh