VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Virginia Beach Department of Public Health has lifted a swimming and wading advisory Wednesday for the Cape Henry area of Virginia Beach between Fort Story and Starfish Road.
The area included the beach at First Landing State Park.
Testing conducted by the health department showed the bacteria levels in the water exceeded the state water quality standards.
On Thursday the advisory was lifted and health officials said bacteria levels met healthy standards.
Indicator organisms like enterococci are monitored and when they are too high a sign is posted at the beach.
Enterococci are a group of organisms used to determine the amount of fecal contamination of recreation water. They do not cause illness but research shows when enterococci are present, other disease-causing organisms may be as well.
Signs were posted on the beach between Fort Story and Starfish Road to alert the public of the swimming and wading advisory.
The signs said:
“WARNING! Swimming Advisory
Bacteria levels do not meet state water quality standards
Swimming and wading are prohibited until further notice”
The results of this and all other sampling are located on the Virginia Department of Health Web site at http://www.vdh.state.va.us/epidemiology/DEE/BeachMonitoring.
