A routine test of the water at 12 beaches in Collier County Monday found unusually high levels of bacteria at Barefoot Beach, the county's northernmost beach.
Before issuing a swim advisory for the beach, the Department of Health in Collier County re-sampled the water on Wednesday September 27, to see if there was some anomaly in the results of routine sample.
"The water sample taken from Barefoot Beach on 9/27/2017 came back within normal limits," Andrea McKinney, a health department spokeswoman, wrote in an email.
"From time to time we see high bacteria levels in routine samples," McKinney wrote. "This can be caused by enterococci bacteria from fecal pollution, but can also be caused by conditions in the spot where the sample was taken or possible cross-contamination."
The results of the second test were a relief to beachgoer Hannah Togler, who heard about the results of the first test from a local resident only after she and her friends had been in the water at Barefoot Beach.
"I really hope it's nothing bad," Togler said. "We would have the bacteria all over us."
On June 22, the health department issued a swim advisory for the beach at the Naples Pier after a test showed high levels of enterococci bacteria there. The advisory was lifted the next day after a re-sampling test came back normal.
John Petti of Bonita Springs said the water at Barefoot Beach looks darker now than he's ever seen it.
"It's like this coffee brown," he said.
He suspects the coloration might be coming from the Imperial River a few miles north of Barefoot Beach.
"That's being fed by the overflow that damaged Bonita Springs big time," Petti said, referring to the flooding some Bonita Springs streets have experienced during record rainfall this past summer, compounded by Hurricane Irma.
"It's emptying out now, of course, into the Gulf coast," he said.
McKinney wrote that Department of Health recommends residents and visitors to be mindful when swimming at Collier County beaches.
"Do not enter the water if you have an open cut or sore," she wrote. "Avoid getting water in the mouth wile swimming, and shower off with clean, fresh water after swimming."
