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Swimming advisory lifted for Newport News beach

Posted at 9:24 PM, Aug 07, 2019
and last updated 2019-08-14 15:20:01-04

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The swimming advisory that was issued for Hilton Beach last week has been lifted, the Peninsula Health District announced Wednesday.

Results from re-sampling completed on Tuesday, August 13 indicate that bacteria levels in the water meet the state water quality standards for recreational waters.

Recreational waters are monitored for bacteria routinely during the summer swimming season, using indicator organisms such as enterococci, the indicator of choice for estuarine and marine waters.

Signs are posted at the beach alerting the public of the advisory. The signs read: “Warning swimmers – bacteria levels do not meet state water quality standards, swimming not advised until further notice”.

Additional samples were collected by health officials on Wednesday, and the results should be available on Thursday. Health officials will remove the signs and notify the public again when the bacteria levels decrease to levels that meet the state water quality standards.

Enterococci are a group of organisms used to determine the extent of fecal contamination of recreational waters. While these organisms do not cause illness, scientific studies indicate that their presence is closely correlated to the presence of other disease-causing organisms. People swimming or playing in waters with bacteria levels higher than the standard have an increased risk of developing gastrointestinal illness.

“We encourage the public to protect their health by complying with this advisory,” said Gary Hagy, Environmental Health Manager of the Peninsula Health District. “Typically, an advisory of this nature is temporary and will be withdrawn once the bacteria levels have returned to a safe level.”

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