Recreational Beach Water - Essay Example

Recreational Beach Water Recreational Beach Water As an essential component of life, water is used for various purposes. Besides drinking and industrial use, water is also used for recreational purposes. Recreational water may be found in swimming pools, water parks, lakes, oceans, rivers, hot tubs, water play area among others. Recreational water, just like other water, is prone to contamination by bacteria, protozoa, viruses as well as algae. These are disease- causing germs and may cause a variety of illnesses.1. Describe the types of illnesses that can be caused by contaminated recreational beach watersRecreational water illnesses are caused by a variety of micro-organisms found in these waters.

The waterborne pathogens are classified as bacteria, protozoa and virus. Each of these is attributable to specific illnesses.Commencing with bacteria, there are two major classes of bacteria that are greatly attributed to causing diseases in recreational water. According to the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, they are Fecal coliform and the Escherichia coli. Fecal Coliform is usually found in the gut and feces of human being and other warm-blooded animals. They find their way into recreational water through sewage and runoff waters.

They are attributed to the cause of diarrhea. According to Parry and Palmer (2002), Escherichia coli cause bloody diarrhea and kidney illness. Such diseases are usually contracted through swallowing of the contaminated recreational waterMoreover, a plethora of viruses and protozoa are renown for causing diarrhea and other gastrointestinal infections. Other recreational water infections include skin infections, ear infections, respiratory infections, eye and neurological infections (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

Identify the challenges in monitoring and managing beach waters to protect the publicThe first challenge faced in monitoring and managing beach water is the fact that pool codes and inspection items vary across jurisdictions (Wymer, 2007). Consequently, there are varied reports about the results of the tests carried out. Thus, there is need to facilitated a collection of pool inspection data in standardized and electronic format. This may also help in enhancing routine analysis hence perpetuating the efforts of reducing health and safety risks for recreational water users.

Another prominent problem is lack of worker safety response tool kits. Some beaches and pools lack the appropriate toolkits for workers who monitor beaches and pools. Another challenge is that there is increased tendency of violating of various pool codes. For instance, many pools and beaches have improperly maintained pool logs, unapproved water test kits, invalid pool licenses and invalid operator training documentation (Wymer, 2007).Another problem is that water test results take a relatively long period to come out.

This way, it is not usually easy to immediately detect a problem in beach waters prior to the results. Thus, people may continue using contaminated recreational water awaiting test results.Describe the types of warning information that you would make available to the public regarding the safety of swimming at the beachVarious warnings are necessary to enhance safety among the public when swimming at the beach. The information contained in such warnings varies. However, it is important the warning should contain basic information geared towards promoting public safety.

For instance, such warning information may include, but not inclined to:Information warning the public to know how to swim, or swim near lifeguards. This may be of great help in case of emergencies. Also, beach users may be warned to ensure that children at the beach are closely monitored. Beach users may also be warned not to rely so much on floating devices are they are not always effective. Furthermore, the public should also be informed on how to handle currents. Warning information should also incorporate the steps to follow in case of trouble while swimming.

For instance, beach users may be encouraged to wave or shout for help in case of an incident. Above all the public should be warned on the need to follow al the rules and regulations when using the beach.ReferencesWymer, L. R. (2007). Statistical framework for recreational water quality criteria and monitoring. New Jersey: Wiley-Interscience.Parry, S., & Palmer, S. (2002). E.coli: Environmental health issues of VTEC 0157. New York: Routledge.Centers for Disease Conrol and Prevention. (n.d.). Recreational water illnesses.

Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/rwi/