LIHU‘E — Kauai Surfrider’s Blue Water Task Force released monthly testing data for June 2020, though data for the month is limited as only one person is currently doing water quality sampling.
Usually the project requires a team of volunteers, but John Alderete said Sunday that in order to protect volunteers during the pandemic, he is taking care of the sampling alone.
“Typically, our surf and beach sites are mostly clean, but some of our tested beach sites were above the desired levels (Gillin’s and Niumalu). All sites at or near rivers, streams, or canals, showed high bacterial counts,” Alderete said in a summary of the results.
Of the 16 sample sites, 12 showed bacteria numbers that exceed Hawaii state standards of 130 organisms per 100 ml for a single sample and 35 organisms per 100 ml for a geometric mean of five or more samples.
The BWTF always recommends that sites consistently above the statistical threshold value should be posted with caution signs.
“Sites where the geometric mean are in the thousands are badly polluted with fecal indicating bacteria. As well, as the rains return, be aware of Brown Water Advisories from Hawaii Department of Health. In addition to increased pollution, brown water also has a potential increase of issues with sharks,” Alderete said in the results summary.
Source: The Garden Island
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