Annapolis, MD - The Anne Arundel County Department of Health has issued an advisory to avoid swimming, water skiing and other direct water contact due to high bacteria levels found in water sample results at Londontown Community Beach (#5) on Arundel Road, which is in Edgewater, Maryland and on the South River. The beach is tested regularly during the summer as part of the Department’s recreational water quality sampling program. The advisory will remain in effect until water samples show bacteria levels to be at an acceptable level that meets the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standard.
The Department of Health has posted advisory signs at the beach. The Department advises people who have come in contact with the affected water to wash well with soap and warm water immediately. Clothing should also be washed. Many factors, such as rainfall, waterfowl, water temperature and tidal action, can cause high bacteria readings.
For more information on the status of the advisory, visit this website, or call the Water Quality Line, 410-222-7999. Subscribers to the Department’s Recreational Water Quality Email Alert System will receive email notifying them when the advisory is lifted. To sign up for the free e-alert system, visit AAHealth.org/health-alert. Water quality alerts can also be received via text messages on cellphones by following the Department on Twitter @AAHealth_water.
Preemptive Advisory: After rainfall of 1/2 inch or more, all Anne Arundel County beaches are under a no swimming/no direct water contact advisory for at least 48 hours due to predicted elevated bacteria levels from rainwater runoff and increased health risks. Do not swim in cloudy, murky water.
