Testing the Waters Often Slow, Inexact

When state legislators passed AB 411 nearly five years ago, environmentalists hailed the measure requiring polluted beaches to post warnings as a triumph in keeping beachgoers safe.

But in the ensuing years, science hasn’t quite been able to keep up and testing methods to detect harmful bacteria are too slow, some say.

The predicament spurred a Westminster marine research agency to bring scientists to Orange County in hopes that they could make testing for bacteria in the ocean as easy as checking chlorine levels in a pool.

“We’re hoping to get a simple method that will get us results in four hours so we can make beach-posting decisions in the same working day,” said Linda O’Connell, a state water board environmental scientist. “Right now, we’re making decisions 24 to 48 hours after the initial sample is taken.”

As a result, a contaminated beach is often clean by the time warnings are posted, she said.

The State Water Resources Control Board gave the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project Authority in Westminster a $1.5-million grant. With that money, the agency brought in researchers from universities and private companies that measure bacteria in foods, drinking water and counter-terrorism applications. The University of Michigan, University of Connecticut, Environmental Protection Agency and Advanced Analytical Technologies Inc., an Iowa pharmaceutical firm, were represented.

State tests measure levels of three bacteria: total coliform, fecal coliform and enterococcus. High levels of these bacteria indicate that other bacteria such as E. coli are present in large enough quantities to present a health risk.

Surfers, swimmers and divers are at risk of getting sick in ocean water that tests high. Symptoms typically mimic the flu.

Last year, project researchers conducted tests at Huntington Beach near the mouth of the Santa Ana River, then in laboratories. But out of the eight methods they developed, none were fast and accurate.

Some tests were fast but inflated the bacteria amounts, while others resulted in measurements that were too low, said Dan Schiff, deputy director at the research agency.

Michigan’s method used antibodies that attached to E. coli so they could be measured. But some antibodies clung to other microorganisms, falsely raising the E. coli count.

Connecticut’s fluorescent detection system undercounted bacteria.

The EPA’s DNA approach, which measures enterococcal DNA with fluorescent probes, had the best time but overestimated enterococci.

“This was not the definitive test,” Schiff said. “Some of the labs that didn’t do well have already gone back and improved their methods.”

Ocean water, which has microorganisms, salts, sediment and other things that interfere with bacteria measurement, has proved to be a formidable challenge.

Steven J. Lansky, president of Advanced Analytical Technologies, said his company had newfound respect for ocean water, which had salts and other items interfering with their testing.

“Ocean water is really a tough matrix,” said Lansky. “There are other things in the water that affect the test, like algae, sand and dirt. We’ve come a long way, but are still not at the level that California needs.”

Excess bacteria prompted the closure of four miles of the Huntington Beach coast in 1999.

Surfers, beachgoers and lifeguards would benefit greatly from a better method, Huntington Beach Marine Safety Lt. Michael Beuerlein said.

“Our people train in the ocean and also recreate in the ocean,” he said. Having a reliable indicator for bacteria “would be a huge advantage.”

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Times staff writer Sara Lin contributed to this report.