Swimming Advisory Lifted For Ocean County Beach

SEASIDE PARK, NJ — A swimming advisory for the bay beach in Seaside Park has been lifted by the state Department of Environmental Protection, after fecal coliform levels dropped from Tuesday.

Retesting of the water at the 5th Avenue bayfront beach in Seaside Park showed levels of 20 colonies of Enterococci per 100 milliliters of water, down from 250 colonies in the water test from Tuesday, according to the NJDEP.

Enterococci is a type of bacteria found in animal and human waste that is an indicator of possible poor bathing water quality. The New Jersey State Sanitary Code requires that the concentration of bacteria not exceed 104 colonies of Enterococci bacteria per 100 milliliters of sample.

Water samples that are above the water quality standard indicate water that presents an increased risk of illness, according to officials.

"Swimming in or contact with polluted water can cause gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain, respiratory symptoms like sore throat, cough, runny nose, and sneezing, eye and ear symptoms including irritation, earache, and itchiness, dermatological symptoms like skin rash and itching, and flu-like symptoms such as fever and chills," the NJDEP water monitoring website says.

"These symptoms are minor most of the time, but can occasionally be more serious, especially in sensitive populations, such as in children and elderly. People should also not swim with open sores, and see a doctor if a cut does become infected after water exposure," the NJDEP said.

Water is tested weekly along the New Jersey shoreline. When a test shows the water exceeds the state standard, a swimming advisory is issued and additional sampling is conducted and continues each day until the sample result is below 104 Enterococci/100 mL.

If two consecutive daily samples exceed the standard, the bathing beach closes until sample results are below the standard, the NJDEP said.