Bahia Beach

Source Information

Water quality results displayed at this location were collected by the Florida Department of Health’s (DOH) Florida Healthy Beaches (FHB) program. FHB may recollect water samples from a beach on subsequent days if a water quality issue is detected. The information is updated by Tampa Bay Waterkeeper (www.tampabaywaterkeeper.org), a local nonprofit focused on ensuring clean water. Local sampling programs collect bi-weekly recreational water samples to test for levels of enterococci, a type of bacteria that indicates that pathogenic bacteria and viruses associated with fecal pollution may be present. These bacteria are known as fecal indicator bacteria (FIB). Analysis of samples takes 24 hours to culture before results are available. 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.