Gulf Water Quality Results

I'm hoping this year's results are a fluke associated with the rains. We still have very high water in the cypress dome behind our house, so I'm not sure if that implies defective runoff into Western Lake or not. This water might be sitting fairly stagnant coursing through old Seagrove resulting in leaching of dirty crud toward the beach.

I don't think the water in the cypress dome is a sign of anything wrong. Have you asked anyone who has been here for a long time, like 20 years or more, if they remember the history of that dome? I can think of one cypress dome in Seagrove that was always full 15 or 20 years ago and only recently recovered from lower annual rainfall over a period of years. There were quite a few consecutive years when that particular dome was dry or nearly so for very long stretches of time. Historically the cypress domes must have been wet more than dry or they would not have supported the growth of cypress trees.
More concerning to me is the way the dune lakes fill up so rapidly after rains - more and faster runoff means less time for water to clean itself on the way to where ever, either a lake or gulf or dome, etc.

I think addressing this issue would be a better use of your BP dollars - if there any left or if it can be used that way.
It's bad for tourism, but those of you who live there, live there because of the gulf and quality of life - this could - and sounds like it has - impacted your health.
When the tourists are mostly gone by mid August, because of school schedules, you guys still have wonderful beach time. Plus it is impacting your drinking water?
Don't worry about the tourists yet. Make certain you guys are alright.
Don't know if I can do anything from Louisville...Ellen

I think addressing this issue would be a better use of your BP dollars - if there any left or if it can be used that way.
It's bad for tourism, but those of you who live there, live there because of the gulf and quality of life - this could - and sounds like it has - impacted your health.
When the tourists are mostly gone by mid August, because of school schedules, you guys still have wonderful beach time. Plus it is impacting your drinking water?
Don't worry about the tourists yet. Make certain you guys are alright.
Don't know if I can do anything from Louisville...Ellen

The BP dollars are too valuable being diverted into slush funds. Our drinking water actually is piped in from north of the bay.

The solution(s) will depend on the cause(s). All we really know is that it has to be related to sewer and septic unless our rivers and creeks are full of fecal bacteria from livestock. Heck we do really know that. Maybe more tourist are relieving themselves in the water or baby diapers are being rinsed in the water. Is the same bacteria in fish? Do the bacteria multiply? What would be causing higher concentrations in our county or is it the same all along Florida's coastline with similiar populations. Is it worse when more people are in the water? Is storm water runoff contributory or a primary cause? What is the ratio of septic tanks to the population compared to other counties? Septic tanks around the dune lakes seems to be a logical source but why don't we have inspections on those tanks? Is this a primary concern for our local government or are they just unaware? I do not want to swim around in high numbers of fecal bacteria but some people seem not to mind as indicated from previous posts. I get that everyone have varying degrees of immunity but what toursist will chose to come here if they know we have poor water quality? I get that this website was designed to promote tourism but that is exactly the point in that we need to solve this problem now and not wait for it to go away on it's own. High fecal bacteria counts will eventually give our promoters a new meaning to advertising a "destination hotspot" in the form of chills and fevers! Our basic approach needs to be that this is NOT acceptable and we need to do something about it before spending money on other things. I really enjoy humor and just laughed at the "dookie dash"! Yesterday I thought that humor has no place in this but just think if we actually held an event like that to bring awareness of this issue? If we are complaining to the right people and they are not reacting by spending money to find and correct this problem then I am all in on the First Annual South Walton Dookie Dash, a charitable event to bring attention to the problems of s______ in the water...

Aren't we getting "drinking water" and recreational water quality a little confused? I would think the TDC had better get more involved in recreational water quality issues. The drinking water sounds like a state health department issue. I bet there are state websites available to explain what can be done to help protect water quality. Getting the BCC to do anything about it could be quite a different matter. How do our numbers compare to the adjoining counties, and is this an ongoing state-wide issue, would be my next two questions.

Yes there are TWO separate problems. 1. Drinking water is a City of Freeport problem and this well is North of Freeport. The Department of Health monitors our drinking water quality. 2. Gulf and Bay water quality is a separate issue and unrelated to the drinking water problem. The TDC and BCC have the responsibility of making sure we have a safe environment (water quality should be a priority) utilizing State and Federal support. We as a community need to let these entitities know that poor water quality in any form is not acceptable.

What I was getting at: are water samplings in the Gulf, in Walton, any different or worse than Bay or Okaloosa? How do they compare to other coastal counties? As far as the bay goes, it is fed by a river that comes from Alabama and Georgia, and all farmlands and asphalt run-off areas in between.

The only way to answer these questions are to take water samples at the mouth of Choctawhatchee river, Black Creek, Mitchell river and basicly any fresh water creek dumping in the Bay. If the high fecal bacteria are there then it should also be where the bay dumps into the gulf. It is not that complicated or expensive to perform these test and the data would either rule out issues with livestock or maybe even septic system failures in specific locations. I do not see how asphalt would be a factor. We are not talking mercury or nitrogen which is a different problem and I would like to know these levels as well. I understand that cruise ships use to dump their waste in the ocean but I do not think we are close enough to those shipping lanes. By the way what do oil rigs do with their waste I wonder. Without biologist and civil engineers all we can do is to take more samples and ask more questions until we get some answers.

New Results, Oct 9, 2012. What is it with Holly St. ???

Site Name Enterococci Water Quality
SP-1 Miramar Beach 4 Good
SP-3 Dune Allen Beach 40 Moderate
SP-4 Blue Mountain Beach 20 Good
SP-5 Grayton Beach 84 Moderate
SP-7 Holly Street Beach 796 Poor
SP-8 Eastern Lake Beach 64 Moderate
SP-9 Inlet Beach Access 168 Poor

Water quality classifications are based upon United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) recommended criteria and Florida Healthy Beaches Program Categories:
Good = 0 - 35 Enterococci per 100 ml of marine
Moderate = 36 - 104 Enterococci per 100 ml of marine water
Poor = greater than 105 Enterococci per 100 ml of marine water

Health Advisories have been issued for Holly Street Beach Access and Inlet Beach Access based on the enterococci standard recommended by the EPA. This should be considered a potential health risk to the bathing public.

I think people this is s serious issue with many people seriously worried about it. Until we know what the problem is it cannot be fixed. Someone must know who we can contact who can find a way to push forward and find some answers. This reminds me of the issue with the chemical plant in Erin Brockovich. Are we going to wait until locals and tourists get so sick and possibly develop serious health issues with possible long term affects (since we do not know the nature of the beast) before we find someone to help us get some answers. Since we don't know what they are, we do not know how serious they can be as well. There are so many questions with no real factual answers. As someone said, we will have no tourists if this continues this way and the locals will suffer due to financial problems from the lack of. Not to mention no one will want to go in the water.

There are 9 beaches where the water was tested. 7 are rated good or moderate and 2 are rated poor. Having lived on the beach for nine years, it is my strong opinion the water quality conditions vary mostly due to environmental conditions. It is also my strong opinion that there is is some very unneeded and unwarranted over reaction to the reports.

There are 9 beaches where the water was tested. 7 are rated good or moderate and 2 are rated poor. Having lived on the beach for nine years, it is my strong opinion the water quality conditions vary mostly due to environmental conditions. It is also my strong opinion that there is is some very unneeded and unwarranted over reaction to the reports.

Not if Holly St happens to be your beach. It has had consistently terrible results all summer. Exactly what 'environmental condition' do you think that might be?

What would be the harm in hiring an expert to research this problem?

I dont think being concerned about water quality that has been bad most of the summer over reacting... Who wants to swim in sh*t??? Not me...

I dont think being concerned about water quality that has been bad most of the summer over reacting... Who wants to swim in sh*t??? Not me...

I do not either. I think there are people that do not want there to be a problem or who have never any repurcussions because of the water that do not want to admit there may be a problem. It sounds like there are more concerned people than not on here. If there is any possibility that there is a serious problem with the water than it should be handled by the appropriate agency, whoever that may be. I will say it again re the drinking water, my dog and cat were sick with very bad stomach problems. Someone that lives here as well asked if I was giving them tap water. I would have never thought water could be an issue. I started giving them bottled water and I kid you not, they both got better in no time. An expensive trip to the vet and it was just the water. We get warning now and then to boil the water and I do not believe they are telling us about all of the times there could be a problem. So I believe at times there is a problem with the drinking water. I'm not saying always, but it is not a coincidence my cat and dog got sick when I started giving them tap water (I used to give them bottled water and stopped to cut back on expenses) they got sick and well when I stopped. The vet found nothing wrong. They are fine now.

I do not want there to be anything wrong with any of the water sources, but I also don't want to get sick from drinking it or swimming in it. I would rather face the facts and find the source of the problem so that it can hopefully be remedied. Our beautiful water and beaches are being polluted (what a terrible word) by something and we need to find out what before it is too late to do anything about it.

There have been no issues with tap water that I am aware of. Drinking water from the tap should not make anyone or anything sick.

The water quality I am concerned about is the Gulf. That is a well documented health issue.

There have been no issues with tap water that I am aware of. Drinking water from the tap should not make anyone or anything sick.

The water quality I am concerned about is the Gulf. That is a well documented health issue.

Well, I have heard boil water warnings because of problems with the water on the news. I am not sure of the exact areas they were for, but I have heard them from time to time. Other than that, I did not know of any problems with the tap water either. All I know is someone asked me if I was giving the animals tap water and I looked surprised and asked why? She said that could be the problem so I changed and they got better immediately. I have no idea what that was about, just that my animals went from bottled to tap, got sick at some point after drinking tap water so I took them off of it and they got better. They were not sick the whole time drinking tap water, it was just at some point they got sick. I would never have related it to the tap water had someone not said something to me. How they knew or thought there was a problem I do not know. But it seemed to be the issue or it was a very big coincidence. I then remembered about hearing boil water issues from time to time from the news and other people. That is all I know about the tap water.

Heartbren, when they give the boil notices it is because there is a current break in a line, they are aware of it, and working to fix it. They WANT to make people aware by giving those notices--I suspect otherwise they would be susceptible to getting sued. I think you can rest easy that they are not withholding information when they should be giving boil notices, as you have suggested.

Furthermore, if your animals have been accustomed to getting bottled water, perhaps they just got temporarily sick because of the switch to tap--tap water has a lot of minerals and trace elements that bottled water has had filtered out. That could upset an animals stomach if the switch was made all at once. I suspect that, had you given them a little time to adjust, they would have been fine with the tap, but it is certainly your right as a pet owner to give them bottled water. It's your wallet.

However, I feel sure that there is no constant, ongoing issue with the quality of the tap water (and certainly no ongoing attempt to hide it from the public, as you've suggested), simply occasional breaks in the system, which happen everywhere else in the US as well--it's not just here. There IS an ongoing problem with the Gulf water, and people do have a lot of opinions, but please stop bringing it back to the tap water.

Heartbren, when they give the boil notices it is because there is a current break in a line, they are aware of it, and working to fix it. They WANT to make people aware by giving those notices--I suspect otherwise they would be susceptible to getting sued. I think you can rest easy that they are not withholding information when they should be giving boil notices, as you have suggested.

Furthermore, if your animals have been accustomed to getting bottled water, perhaps they just got temporarily sick because of the switch to tap--tap water has a lot of minerals and trace elements that bottled water has had filtered out. That could upset an animals stomach if the switch was made all at once. I suspect that, had you given them a little time to adjust, they would have been fine with the tap, but it is certainly your right as a pet owner to give them bottled water. It's your wallet.

However, I feel sure that there is no constant, ongoing issue with the quality of the tap water (and certainly no ongoing attempt to hide it from the public, as you've suggested), simply occasional breaks in the system, which happen everywhere else in the US as well--it's not just here. There IS an ongoing problem with the Gulf water, and people do have a lot of opinions, but please stop bringing it back to the tap water.

Excellent post Kit! Not to pick on anyone but giving bottled water to an animal just blows my mind. It's amazing someone like that can even find the store.

Excellent post Kit! Not to pick on anyone but giving bottled water to an animal just blows my mind. It's amazing someone like that can even find the store.

Excuse me, but there is a reason I give them bottled water. I stopped because of expenses and they did not get sick for a short period and need to adjust. It went for a while before I realized they needed to go to the vet which was a waste of money. You can have your opinoin about my giving bottled water to my animals. If you think it silly fine, but your post was pretty unsavory. I am sure if you have animals they are not as important to you as mine or you would understand. We are not from here and they may not be used to the tap water as Kit said. At least she was a little more diplomatic and tried not to be insulting which was nice of her. I did not know why they had the boil water notices, I just know I have heard them before. Now I know since she explained it to me. I think we can all have our own opinions without being blatantly insulting. It seems very easy to blow your mind. I am not the only person I know that gives there animals bottled water. I only started again because they got sick when given tap water. You do not have to agree and whatever made them sick at least they are not anymore since they are back on bottled water. It is cheaper than continuing to ttake them to the vet b/c they are throwing up and have diahrea and get dehydrated from it. Frankly, you are an idiot to make such a comment. Basically that is what you were calling me. I thank Kit for having more diplomacy than you. You probably don't know what that word means!!! Now, do you mind getting back to the issue at hand instead of having fun insulting people on here. That is not what this is all about but aparently you get a kick out of it. Oh and I am sure your mind was blown way before you wrote what you wrote or you would not have written it!!!!!! The kindness of people here never ceases to amaze me since I moved here. NOT

There is never a good reason for someone not to be kind to others. Everyone has there opinions and their own experiences which very well maybe different than someone elses. I really think there is an attitude on this forum to play down issues because it is a tourist read website therefore the unkindness or bullying attitude must come from the purpose of the website which is to promote tourism. Apparently, you can not have an open forum about the issues affecting those that live and work here and promote tourism at the same time. I think the moderators of this website need to just be honest and tell us not to post anything that would affect tourism unless it is positive otherwise it will lead to exactly what is happening regarding this topic- rude and condescending behavior toward those that may or may not be overreacting to this issue of water quality (both tap and gulf/bay/river). The City of Freeport has had issues with water quality in addition to the breaks in the mains as I get a report from them on a regular basis. The water quality for the beaches and bays are unacceptable IMO. Moderators, if you do not want us discussing this issue on this website just delete the thread otherwise do not set the tone that allows for this behavior.

Bravo mputnal3!!!!!!!!!! Very well put!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Members decide which topics of discussion matter to them. Members also set the tone.

Many community issues have been greatly influenced by the thoughtful SoWal members who contribute ideas, listen to concerns and get involved.

The forum is a great community tool. It's up to members how it will be used (for sharing and helping or for whining and attacking?). Moderators may have to give a reminder now and then but mainly members moderate themselves.

This is a community of people. Some are residents. Some are visitors. All who come here to the forum to chat have the love of our SoWal area as a bond. So while tourism is a big part of our town, it does not drive our discussion here. Many members provide a great service by coming on the forum and answering questions, getting involved, posting about an important issue, providing facts, etc.

Kit is an excellent role model for us. Thanks for your input kit.

Members and moderators set the topics. Moderators set the tone regarding tourist negative issues which is all I am talking about. I have never received a moderator private message for a tourist positive subject matter but many including myself have gotten a private message for a tourist negative subject matter (in my case BP, oil, corexit and the relationship with the TDC). When someone accuses someone else of not being able to "find the store" don't you think that person deserves a "private message" from a moderator to tone it down? Did it happen? If so I stand corrected.

This is a wonderful website, a wonderful community with really informed people and an envirnoment that is considered a "paradise" and all we want is to keep it that way. IMO over-reaction is much less of a problem than under-reaction as this community grows increasing demand for upgraded infrastructure. I do not want to be behind in this struggle for balance between nature and people but we have to start facing some facts and that is that we are behind! It is the nature of people to complain (sometimes justified sometimes not). I believe that good leaders and the moderators are leaders in this community will not accuse people of "whining" just to be whining. Poor water quality is a symptom of a problem that remains unresearched and needs the attention of all of us. I plan to be here for a long time so why would I not want to find out if there is any correlation between water quality and septic systems, sewer systems, fresh water runoff, old dumping sites, the dune lake system or something else yet even thought of?

Those are all good and relevant questions for community discussion. Accusations are not useful. Private messages are private. Any moderator intervention has to do with personal attacks or disregard for rules not tourism related topics.

After all these years, I know from experience that this forum is especially dedicated and supportive of important community issues - regardless of your stance - it is a platform for problem solving. The true picture is always the right picture. Especially in the aftermath of a storm or other incidents (BP) when members and staff are reporting all that they can, including photos (and web cams) to provide the information that is needed by everyone effected. Actually, these are the difficult times that have grown the membership and encouraged so much community participation in other ways.

My opinion on the above remarks is that James' comment was rude and unnecessary but heartbren responded and defended herself more than adequately. We are all adults here. I think.