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2008 Swimming Season Update
South Carolina
May 2009
- Introduction
- 2008 Summary Results
- For More Information
- PDF Version (2 pp, 334K, About PDF) of this document
- Raw data (XLS) (71K) for South Carolina
Introduction
Figure 1. South Carolina coastal counties.
The BEACH Act of 2000 requires that coastal and Great Lakes states and territories report to EPA on beach monitoring and notification data for their coast recreation waters. The BEACH Act defines coastal recreation waters as the Great Lakes and coastal waters (including coastal estuaries) that states, territories, and authorized tribes officially recognize or designate for swimming, bathing, surfing, or similar activities in the water.
This fact sheet summarizes beach monitoring and notification data submitted to EPA by the state of South Carolina for the 2008 swimming season.
The beach program staff in South Carolina wants your input. Please log onto our Web site, look at the data that is posted, and let us know if we can provide information that is more helpful. Our Web site is: South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.
And, come to South Carolina—beautiful places and smiling faces await you.
| County | Total Beaches | Monitored | Not Monitored |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beaufort | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Charleston | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Colleton | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Georgetown | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Horry | 8 | 8 | 0 |
| Totals | 23 | 23 | 0 |
2008 Summary Results
How many notification actions were reported and how long were they?
Figure 2: Beach notification actions by duration.
When water quality standards are exceeded at a particular beach, South Carolina’s approach is to issue a beach advisory that warns people to avoid contact with the ocean water. A total of 7 monitored beaches had at least one advisory issued during the 2008 swimming season. About 72 percent of South Carolina’s 18 notification actions lasted two days or less. Figure 2 presents a full breakdown of notification action durations.
What percentage of days were beaches under a notification action?
Figure 3: Beach days with and without notification actions.
For South Carolina's 2008 swimming season, actions were reported about 1 percent of the time (Figure 3).
How do 2008 results compare to previous years?
Table 2 compares 2008 notification action data with monitored beach data from previous years.
| Year | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of monitored beaches | 23 | 23 | 23 |
| Number of beaches affected by notification actions | 9 | 10 | 7 |
| Percentage of beaches affected by notification actions | 39% | 43% | 30% |
| Percentage of beach days affected by notification actions | 8% | 2% | 1% |
What pollution sources possibly affect investigated monitored beaches?
Figure 4 displays the percentage of South Carolina’s investigated monitored beaches possibly affected by various pollution sources. In 2008, 70 percent of the beaches were listed as having no known sources of pollution.
Figure 4: Percent of investigated monitored beaches affected by possible pollution sources (23 beaches).
For More Information
South Carolina's 2007 Beach Season Data | General information about beaches
Information regarding sample results is available at the South Carolina DHEC Web site
, the Earth911 Web site , or by contacting DHEC at (843) 238-4378.
