water quality

Several weeks after Hurricane Ian made landfall a team of faculty and student researchers from Florida Gulf Coast University’s Water School joined a weeklong, offshore research trip to collect water samples and survey sea beds to better understand the storm’s ecological impact. We talk with two of the research team members to learn more about the trip and what they found.

While a precautionary boil water order affecting Sanibel and Captiva islands has been rescinded, one remains in place for the Caloosa Shores Association on Sanibel.

Precautionary Boil Water Notice lifted for communities off Winkler Road in South Fort Myers

A precautionary boil water notice was issued Sunday for an area of Fort Myers near I-75 and will remain in effect until a bacteriological survey shows that the water is safe to drink. A line break that prompted the alert was repaired by Sunday afternoon.

Cape Coral’s municipal drinking water supply is tainted with the intestinal bacteria E. coli, officials said Monday, and ordered the city’s 190,000 residents not to drink their tap water.“Fecal coliforms and E. coli are bacteria whose presence indicates that the water may be contaminated with human or animal wastes,” officials said in a citywide boil notice warning. “Microbes in these wastes can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches, or other symptoms. They may pose a special health risk for infants, young children, and people with severely compromised immune systems.”E. coli was found in the water supply in two places during routine testing and announced Monday, but no details were released concerning where in the city the bacteria showed up, how prevalent the E. coli outbreak was, nor how the pathogens got into the drinking water supply.Cape Coral officials said Monday that bottled water should be used for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, and food preparation until further notice. Boiling the tap water for a full minute kills the bacteria and other organisms in the water and allows the water to be used after it cools.The Florida Department of Health says signs and symptoms of an E. coli infection, after an average incubation of 3 to 4 days, include diarrhea and abdominal cramps.

While the small lakes or ponds found in many communities here in Florida allow more people to live on or near a waterbody, their real purpose is to help manage water flows and help maintain water quality. Many of these small lakes are actually man-made stormwater management ponds. We learn what it takes to ensure stormwater management ponds are well-maintained — and what outreach efforts exist to teach people who live around them best practices for doing just that.

Tens of thousands of leaking septic systems are contributing to Southwest Florida’s water-quality woes, sending nutrient-rich fecal matter throughout the region’s shallow water table and porous soils to pollute groundwater, feed outbreaks of blue-green algae, and fuel more intense fish-killing red tides.

Water Quality Report Red Tide Blue-Green Algae Cyanobacteria EnterococcusReports from state environmental agencies, conservation group, and citizens said the major waterways in Southwest Florida were clear of red tide, blue-green algae, and other harmful algae blooms as the week began although there were some minor reports offshore and in the Caloosahatchee River.

Doing less for your lawn in the summertime can play a part in preserving Florida waters. June 1 through September 30, three areas of Southwest Florida are asking residents to give their fertilizer routines a summer vacation for the sake of water quality.

The lack of access to drinkable water is devastating communities around the world, and Southwest Florida's water managers are working to make sure the same thing never happens here.