Beach monitoring screen at Big Carona beach in Newport Beach. (Photo courtesy Miocean) |
NEWPORT BEACH -- Surfers and swimmers heading to Orange County beaches this summer can find out instantly if it's safe to go into the water.
Brightly colored signs are now flashing the latest readings on ocean contamination.
The signs show same day results for bacterial testing in water along the coast.
The first electronic beach contamination signs began flashing results on Thursday at Doheny and Huntington state beaches, Big Carona beach in Newport and Newport Pier.
Once water samples are collected, it takes two hours to see results. Until now, swimmers and surfers had to rely on data that was a day old, according to John Griffith, head of the microbiology department at the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project in Costa Mesa.
The old way requires cultures to be grown in the lab and takes up to 24 hours before the contaminated beach alert would be issued, Griffith said.
If the new readings reveal bacteria, scientists can read the results on a laptop.
If the readings show the presence of human waste, the electronic signs will show a yellow paddle, indicating swimmers should be cautious.
In extreme cases, the paddle will turn red and the beach will be closed to swimming.
If the readings show no bacterial contamination, the paddle stays green.
Brightly colored signs are now flashing the latest readings on ocean contamination.
The signs show same day results for bacterial testing in water along the coast.
The first electronic beach contamination signs began flashing results on Thursday at Doheny and Huntington state beaches, Big Carona beach in Newport and Newport Pier.
Once water samples are collected, it takes two hours to see results. Until now, swimmers and surfers had to rely on data that was a day old, according to John Griffith, head of the microbiology department at the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project in Costa Mesa.
The old way requires cultures to be grown in the lab and takes up to 24 hours before the contaminated beach alert would be issued, Griffith said.
If the new readings reveal bacteria, scientists can read the results on a laptop.
If the readings show the presence of human waste, the electronic signs will show a yellow paddle, indicating swimmers should be cautious.
In extreme cases, the paddle will turn red and the beach will be closed to swimming.
If the readings show no bacterial contamination, the paddle stays green.
