Rains on Tuesday left many swim areas in the county unsafe for swimming this week, but with mostly dry weather since, many of those areas should be ok for bathing over the weekend. All bets are off if your area gets a significant rain Saturday or Sunday.
Runoff from heavy rain storms washes pollutants, including bacteria, into nearby creeks, rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. County health officials caution not to bath in any “natural” (swimming pools are ok) water for 48 hours after a storm.
Here are the areas that tested unsafe this week:
Find out what's happening in Anne Arundelfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
SEVERN
Carrolton Manor/Sunset Beach – 112
Find out what's happening in Anne Arundelfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Admiral Heights/Williams Dr. – 756
Arden on the Severn/Pullen - 191 **
Arden on the Severn/Shore End – 172**
MAGOTHY
Mill Creek (upstream) – 2840
Mill Creek (midstream) – 3660
Dividing Creek (upstream) – 5610
Dividing Creek (midstream) – 460
SOUTH
Glen Isle – 188
Londontowne Beach 5 – 860
Pine Whiff – 216
Davidsonvillle Wildlife Sanctuary – 8037
South River Park – 464
RHODE
Holly Hills - 344
** Sampled by County Health Department
The acceptable level of enterococci bacteria is 104 or fewer bacteria colonies per 100 milliliters of water.
Enterococci are bacteria that are found in the GI tract of warm-blooded animals, which includes all birds and mammals. Their presence in surface water indicates recent contamination with fecal waste.
Both the county health department and a network of volunteers test over 100 public beaches and other areas around the county for bacteria. The results from the county tests are put online here, and for the volunteer tests here for Severn and Magothy rivers, here for South River, and here for Rhode/West River. All the sites listed above were tested by Watershed Stewards.
