How do we know that Cayman’s waters are safe?

I was disturbed to read a recently published article which said high levels of faecal bacteria were found in water at public beaches in East End and North Side in October 2018. The report also said that the Department of Environmental Health (DEH) does not have the necessary staff or equipment available to regularly test Cayman’s beaches for water safety.

I have checked both the DEH and government websites and I haven’t found any press releases or information regarding this situation.

Possible causes suggested for the high levels of faecal bacteria included rainwater run-off and an influx of sargassum, but the DEH laboratory manager was quoted as saying she could not recall any swimmers ever contracting an illness due to being in the water here. However, my husband and I were snorkelling in the contaminated waters listed in the article last October. Happily, we did not get sick, but we would have appreciated being informed that we were swimming in waters that were heavily contaminated with sewage.

And please don’t forget about the Sister Islands. We also love to swim, snorkel and dive around Cayman Brac and Little Cayman and there have been recent reports of contaminated well water on Brac. So how safe are their marine beaches? Does anyone actually know? And if they do know, would they tell anybody about it?

The Cayman Islands are famous for their beautiful beaches, pristine waters, and gorgeous reefs; and one of the reasons that many people enjoy visiting Cayman is because they feel safe, and that feeling of safety includes not having to worry about the quality of the food and drinking water. But how about the beaches and marine waters; what is being done to ensure their safety?

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Auntie’s answer: The thought that Cayman’s waters might be contaminated, for whatever reason, is upsetting to say the least, so I understand your concern. I brought your questions to the Department of Environmental Health (DEH), and the laboratory manager, Antoinette Johnson, who was quoted in the article you reference, responded.

First of all, she explained that, according to World Health Organisation guidelines, recreational water quality is based on a combination of sanitary inspection and microbial quality assessment. For the public beaches that DEH monitors, inspection has not revealed any point sources of pollution, such as sewage outfalls, she said.

For the latter check, Ms Johnson said that environmental circumstances can periodically cause elevated microbial counts “which can be explained by the conditions such as rough seas, storm water run-off, or sargassum influx”. If tests reveal consistently higher microbial levels without a clear reason for the rise, that would “trigger a more in-depth investigation and sanitary survey to determine the cause”.

Since traditional indicators for faecal pollution are microorganisms such as E. coli, which can come from several sources (not just human waste) it can only be inferred from those results that pathogens may be present, she added.

But either way, a sanitary survey involves “a comprehensive evaluation of the environmental factors affecting the quality of the waters of a bathing beach”, Ms Johnson said, adding this could include sewage and industrial wastewater discharge, storm water overflows, animals and agricultural drainage. The survey would look at the relationship of these possible sources to the beach in question as well as the location and volume of the pollution, and its chemical, bacterial and physical characteristics.

However, she added, “Elevated numbers of the indicator organism do not necessarily mean that persons are swimming in water heavily contaminated with sewage, as was implied in the article.”

As for the general safety of Cayman’s beaches, the DEH looks at other factors in addition to monitoring beach microbial quality and taking sanitary surveys. The department also undertakes epidemiological surveillance, which is collecting, analysing and interpreting health data, in cases where the quality of recreational water might be connected to people falling ill.

“Our environmental health officers are trained professionals who assess all data in the context of all of the relevant parameters and within the limitations of resources under which they work,” Ms Johnson said.

And that leads me to your query about the safety of the water in the Sister Islands. At the moment the lab on Cayman Brac “is limited to sampling for potable water, swimming pools and dialysis feed water testing as there is a single environmental health officer and no environmental health assistant/lab tech”. The monitoring programme is “risk-based”, combining lab testing with inspections such as sanitary surveys.

“Given limited resources, these categories of testing are assigned higher priority as they involve either direct ingestion, limited bodies of water with high risk of contamination, or exposure of at-risk populations,” she said, adding, “Marine waters, in the absence of direct sewage contamination (outfalls) present a lower risk to healthy individuals and would divert resources from these higher risk categories.”

That doesn’t mean it is being ignored, Ms Johnson said, explaining that once another officer is stationed on the Brac, the testing of recreational water will be added back to the routine monitoring protocol. But if any test results are found to be unsatisfactory, these are followed up by the environmental health officer, she said.

My take on all this is that the DEH seems to be doing all it can considering the shortage of environmental officers, and I am willing to accept the explanation for the elevated number of microbes found, though that may provide little comfort to everyone. But if all the department needs to ensure that it can undertake routine testing, and thus allay any public concern, is additional staff, then I hope that gets that sorted soon.

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Tags: Department of Environmental Health, Seawater quality

Category: Ask Auntie, Environmental Questions