A 'poop water' advisory has been issued in Tampa

Cover photo for illustrative purposes only. Photo by Abdul Rahman Arab | Flickr

Those in the Tampa Bay area may want to reconsider their beach day this weekend, or at the very least, be a bit more selective about where they decide to visit. Following routine testing on June 14, The Florida Department of Health (DOH) has issued an advisory for Ben T. Davis Beach due to high levels of fecal bacteria found in the water.

The bacteria in question is enterococci, a bacteria that lives in the intestinal tracts of warm-blooded animals, including humans. The presence of enterococci in beach water is often caused by natural stormwater runoff, but can also be a result of direct contact with the feces of pets and wildlife, or human sewage.

Waterways polluted with more than 70.5 per 100 milliliters are what ultimately result in an advisory, as is the case for Ben T. Davis Beach as listed by monitoring records released by the Florida Department of Health's Healthy Beaches program. The issued advisory recommends that residents and visitors not swim in the water, and urges them to consider other potential risks that could come with visiting.

What exactly are those risks?

According to a publication in the National Library of Medicine, enterococci bacteria exposure can pose a number of risks to your health, including, but not limited to, UTIs, bacteremia, infective endocarditis, meningitis, intra-abdominal infections, rashes, and infections of wounds.

The advisory will remain in effect for the following week when the beach will then be re-sampled. According to Florida DOH in Hillsborough County, they've conducted beach water quality tests at nine locations every two weeks since August 2000, and weekly since August 2022.
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To check for beach water advisories near you, check the Florida Department of Health's Beach Water Quality Page, where you can search beaches by county.
Article by Rachael Volpe