Hawaii Clean Water Branch (CWB) Beach Water Quality Data


Exposure to sewage contaminated recreational waters may cause gastrointestinal illnesses in swimmers. The State of Hawaii Department of Health (HIDOH) Clean Water Branch (CWB) monitors the waters of Hawaii's beaches for concentrations of Enterococcus, which acts as an indicator of pathogens. The CWB also uses Clostridium perfringens as a secondary tracer of sewage contamination. Results of this monitoring are evaluated using a decision rule to determine whether a beach is safe ("Compliant") or not safe (on "Alert") for swimming and other water contact activities. If a beach is found to be on "Alert" due to elevated indicator bacteria levels, the CWB issues public warnings and alerts and determines whether resampling of the area is necessary. Under the U.S. BEACH Act, the State of Hawaii receives an annual grant to implement its beach monitoring program. This requires the State to conduct a monitoring and notification program that is consistent with performance criteria published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2002. In March 2010, the EPA approved amendments to the Hawaii Administrative Rules (HAR), Chapter 11-54, Water Quality Standards (CWB QAPrgP, HIDOH 2011, Appendix D), which revised the previous State Enterococcus criteria of a geometric mean (GM) of 7 colony-forming units (CFU) per 100 mL and a single sample maximum (SSM) of 100 CFU/100 mL to meet current EPA guidelines. The State of Hawaii now uses the EPA recommended Enterococcus GM and SSM for recreational waters consistent in the 1986 Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Bacteria. The criterion lists the GM and SSM for marine waters as 35 CFU/100 mL and 104 CFU/100 mL, respectively. The CWB utilizes Clostridium perfringens as a secondary tracer in addition to the Enterococcus indicator to help distinguish between sewage and non-sewage sources of elevated Enterococcus levels in marine coastal waters. The reliability of Enterococcus as an indicator organism in tropical environments has been questioned. This issue was formally documented in the report, Tropical Water Quality Indicator Workshop (Fujioka and Byappanahalli, 2003). One of the limitations of all available and EPA-approved test methods is that the sample must be incubated for about 24 hours. As a result, the public finds out today when they shouldn't have gone in the water yesterday. As a result, warning signs on the beach may or may not be reflective of actual water quality because they are based on tests performed one or more days ago.

Data and Resources

Graphic Preview

browse graphic

Metadata Date

Metadata Tags

GCMD Keywords

CF Standard Names

Online Access

OPeNDAP (DAP Client Access)

These data are available for access with an OPeNDAP client

ERDDAP (DAP Client Access)

These data are available for access with an ERDDAP client

Distribution Formats
  • OPeNDAP (Version: DAP/2.0 )
Distributor State of Hawaii Clean Water Branch (CWB)
Point of Contact State of Hawaii Clean Water Branch (CWB)
cleanwaterbranch@doh.hawaii.gov
Online Resource
Originator State of Hawaii Clean Water Branch (CWB)
cleanwaterbranch@doh.hawaii.gov
Online Resource
Publisher Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS)
info@pacioos.org
Online Resource
Dataset Point of Contact Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS)
info@pacioos.org
General Documentation

Related URL
This URL provides additional information related to this dataset.

Related URL
This URL provides additional information related to this dataset.

Associated Documentation Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS)
Date(s) creation: 2013-03-28
issued: 2013-03-28
revision: 2013-03-28
creation: 2013-03-28
issued: 2013-03-28
revision: 2013-03-28
creation: 2013-03-28
issued: 2013-03-28
revision: 2013-03-28
Purpose PacIOOS provides timely, reliable, and accurate ocean information to support a safe, clean, productive ocean and resilient coastal zone in the U.S. Pacific Islands region.
Use Limitations The data may be used and redistributed for free but is not intended for legal use, since it may contain inaccuracies. Neither the data Contributor, University of Hawaii, PacIOOS, NOAA, State of Hawaii nor the United States Government, nor any of their employees or contractors, makes any warranty, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, or assumes any legal liability for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness, of this information.
Time Period 1973-06-04T21:00:00Z to now
Spatial Bounding Box Coordinates N: 22.22542° S: 18.91439° E: -154.8167° W: -159.7774°
Theme keywords GCMD Science Keywords
  • Earth Science > Oceans > Ocean Chemistry > pH
  • Earth Science > Oceans > Ocean Optics > Turbidity
  • Earth Science > Oceans > Ocean Temperature > Water Temperature
  • Earth Science > Oceans > Salinity/Density > Salinity
  • Earth Science > Oceans > Water Quality > Ocean Contaminants
  • Earth Science > Oceans > Ocean Chemistry > Oxygen

GCMD Platform Keywords
  • In Situ Land-based Platforms > Ocean Platform/Ocean Stations > Coastal Stations

GCMD Instrument Keywords
  • In Situ/Laboratory Instruments > Chemical Meters/Analyzers > > > pH Meters
  • In Situ/Laboratory Instruments > Conductivity Sensors
  • In Situ/Laboratory Instruments > Photon/Optical Detectors > > > Turbidity Meters
  • In Situ/Laboratory Instruments > Samplers > Bottles/Flasks/Jars
  • In Situ/Laboratory Instruments > Temperature/Humidity Sensors > > > Temperature Sensors
  • In Situ/Laboratory Instruments > Chemical Meters/Analyzers > > > Autoanalyzer

CF Standard Name Table v39
  • fractional_saturation_of_oxygen_in_sea_water
  • latitude
  • longitude
  • mass_concentration_of_oxygen_in_sea_water
  • number_concentration_of_clostridium_perfringens_in_sea_water
  • number_concentration_of_enterococcus_in_sea_water
  • sea_water_ph_reported_on_total_scale
  • sea_water_practical_salinity
  • sea_water_temperature
  • sea_water_turbidity
  • time

Data Center keywords GCMD Data Center Keywords
  • PacIOOS > Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System

Place keywords GCMD Location Keywords
  • Ocean > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Hawaiian Islands
  • Continent > North America > United States Of America > Hawaii

Project keywords GCMD Project Keywords
  • PacIOOS > Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System

Use Constraints The data may be used and redistributed for free but is not intended for legal use, since it may contain inaccuracies. Neither the data Contributor, University of Hawaii, PacIOOS, NOAA, State of Hawaii nor the United States Government, nor any of their employees or contractors, makes any warranty, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, or assumes any legal liability for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness, of this information.
Lineage Statement 2013-03-29T00:00:00Z PacIOOS begins ingest from U.S. Water Quality Portal (WQP) and Hawaii Clean Water Branch (CWB) into PacIOOS ERDDAP data server.
Platforms
platform In Situ Land-based Platforms > Ocean Platform/Ocean Stations > Coastal Stations
platform_vocabulary GCMD Platform Keywords
Ingestion Attributes
Instrument Attributes
Attribution Information
creator_url https://health.hawaii.gov/cwb/
infoUrl http://www.beachapedia.org/State_of_the_Beach/State_Reports/HI/Water_Quality
CF related
standard_name_vocabulary CF Standard Name Table v39