CLEVELAND — This could be a great weekend to hit the beaches of Cleveland! Whether it's Edgewater, Villa Angela, or the ever popular Euclid Beach, there's a team of dedicated, vigilant scientists watching the water.
"I am a field biologist with the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District Water Quality and Industrial Surveillance department," Eric Soehnlen says. "It's a mouthful."
Eric and his interns don waders and enter Lake Erie every day off the three beaches to collect water samples, but what are they looking for?
"We look at E. coli in the water," Soehnlen told 3News. "E. coli is what we call a fecal indicator bacteria."
High levels of E. coli pose a health risk and have closed the beaches in the past, especially after storm sewer overflow events. But according to Soehnlen, the harmful bacteria lurks elsewhere.
"We see a lot of people bringing their kids down to play on the beach, play in the sand. They'll say stay out of the water (and) play in the sand," he explained. "Well, that's where the E. coli is. That's where the geese and gulls are dropping off their droppings."
On this day, low-wave action has the bacteria laying low, so it's green flags and good water quality all around.
The sewer district's daily test results are available in a few places.
"We communicate that with Cleveland Metroparks, the Ohio Department of Health, the USGS (United States Geological Survey), and we put that on our own website to get that information out there," Soehnlen said.
Eric adds it's important to get the daily reports to as many places as possible to inform the public. As for the sand?
"Don't tell your kids not to play in the sand, but wash your hands before you eat, please."
More on current water quality levels can be found here.