GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas — Counts of fecal bacteria are elevated on the Bolivar Peninsula today, according to the Texas General Land Office.
The Texas Beach Watch map shows the fecal bacteria counts are greater than 104cfu/100mL just past Goat Island on Highway 87, meaning that there are more than 104 colony-forming units of bacteria per 100 milliliters.
Samples that indicate areas above 104cfu/100mL are considered unsafe for swimming, according to the Galveston Bay Foundation's website.
The most common cause of illness after swimming is due to exposure to fecal contaminated water, according to data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
CHECK BACTERIA LEVELS HERE | TexasBeachWatch.com
The EPA's 2004 federal guidelines state that at concentrations of 104/100mL Enterococcus or higher, 19 out of 1,000 swimmers could be expected to contract a waterborne illness—viruses, parasites or bacterial infections.
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