FAIRHOPE, Ala. - Today, Saturday, May 27, the Baldwin County Health Department lifted a public swimming advisory for the Fairhope Public Beach that was issued yesterday, Friday, May 27.

“Based on water samples collected from this location on Friday, swimming water is again good, with enterococci levels below the EPA threshold of 104 colonies per 100 milliliters,” the health department’s May 28 news release stated.

The swimming advisory issued yesterday warned that swimming at the Fairhope Public Beach could "lead to an increased risk of illness." This at the start of Memorial Day weekend, which typically draws large numbers of people to the water.

The May 27 swimming advisory was the second issued this month and the third this year for the Fairhope public beach.

The cause of the water quality problems is not linked to Fairhope’s sewage treatment system, according to the city in a new release issued after the second advisory, but to possible nonpoint source pollution.

Members of a city environmental advisory board raised questions this month about nonpoint source pollution as the cause because other bay front testing sites did not show elevated pollution levels.

Several members of the board think the cause might be waste generated by the large waterfowl population at the North Beach Park. A prohibition against feeding the birds is posted but often violated, which some say is the reason many of the geese and ducks no longer migrate but have made the park a permanent home.

Friday’s swimming advisory was issued following two successive tests of poor swimming water quality at the Fairhope beach, which exceeded EPA testing thresholds for marine water, according to a county health department news release.

The Alabama Department of Public Health and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management operate the bacteriological water quality monitoring and notification program under a grant from the EPA’s BEACH Act Program, the release stated.

Samples are analyzed for enterococci bacteria. High counts indicate the possibility that other disease-causing germs could be present in the water. These indicator bacteria are inhabitants of the intestines of humans and other warm-blooded animals.

For more information, visit ADEM’s website at www.adem.state.al.us. Click on monitoring at the top and then click on Coastal Alabama Beach Monitoring. Additional information is available on the EPA website entitled “Beach Watch” at www.epa.gov/ost/beaches.