Ruben Meerman
Not many people venture down here on days like this… which is why most beach lovers never see this. It's storm water and as you can see, it's flowing straight out there. Doesn't look too bad … but looks can be deceiving. 

NARRATION
Right around the country, people like James Elks of Beachwatch are keeping track of what's going on in the water. 

Ruben Meerman
G'day James. So you collect your water samples between the flags?

James Elks
Yeah, we collect them where most people are swimming.

Ruben Meerman
So what's in stormwater?

James Elks
A bit of everything really, it can have human faeces, animal faeces. It takes all in its path so everything on the street.

Ruben Meerman
So what's the test for?

James Elks
What we're looking for are microbes that get in like pathogens and viruses that kind of thing that can make you sick. At various points in the system solids and other bigger things are collected but the microbes still get through and that's what the test is for.

NARRATION
The sample taken to a lab and is tested for levels of Enterococci, a bacteria found in the gut of both humans and animals.

Tina Papadopoulos
The presence of Enterococci in the water indicates that we have faecal contamination and that could indicate that there may be pathogens in the water.

Tina Papadopoulos
The sorts of pathogens we'd expect to see are Salmonella, Shigella, Hep A and E parasites likeGiardia and Cryptosporidium.

NARRATION
The sample of beach water is filtered through a membrane and then placed on an agar that selects for Enterococci. It's then incubated for 48 hours. 

Tina Papadopoulos
And then we look for red or maroon colonies growing on the surface of the membranes.

Ruben Meerman
So Tina what have we got here?

Tina Papadopoulos
Three examples of different conditions. So the first one here is no rain…

Ruben Meerman
Nice and clear.

Tina Papadopoulos
Second one is an ocean beach after a couple of days of rain we've got about 60 Enterococci there.

Ruben Meerman
So those little colonies there came out of something's bum like in the last three days?

Tina Papadopoulos
That's right.

Ruben Meerman
Amazing.

Tina Papadopoulos
And the last example is a harbour beach after a couple of days of rain…

Ruben Meerman
That's a lot on there, you can really see the difference, that's a lot of stormwater.

Tina Papadopoulos
That's right, yeah.

Ruben Meerman
No swimming in that stuff.

Tina Papadopoulos
No.

James Elks
The test takes about two days so the general rule of thumb is don't swim for at least 24 hours at ocean beaches and up to three or four days at harbour beaches but this can vary depending on the size of the beach, how open it is to the ocean, the tides and the amount of flushing it gets.

NARRATION
So take the advice, get to know how your beach works, and then get back in that water.

STORY CONTACTS

James Elks 
Field Officer
Beachwatch 
NSW Department of Environment,Climate Change and Water