Beach water testing begins for the summer

The local health department has begun testing water quality for local beaches again.

The health department stopped their weekly water sampling program last October as part of a statewide cost-cutting measure.

The state takes weekly water samples from about 304 beaches in 34 counties during the summer – they stopped the sampling the 6 beaches in Franklin County over the winter months when fewer people were swimming.

In some other areas of the state they reduced the testing from weekly to bi-weekly.

The good news is Franklin County’s water samples came back clean with no advisories for any of the beaches tested here on March the 12th.

Heath officials did find moderate amounts of the enterococcus bacteria in Alligator Point, but not enough to issue a swimming advisory.

Moderate concentrations of bacteria were also found at Shell Point in Wakulla County but there was no advisory issued for that beach either.

The last results for Gulf County were issues on March the 3rd and there were no advisories issued for any of the 7 beaches monitored there.

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