A New Advance in Beach Water Testing

Science Daily posted an article of particular interest to shore communities. Faster Method to Detect Bacterial Contamination in Coastal Waters Developed is the title of the article. From the site:

ScienceDaily (2010-03-03) -- Currently, beachgoers are informed about water quality conditions based on results from the previous day's sample. Scientists must collect samples in the field, then return to a lab to culture them for analysis -- a process that takes a minimum of 24 hours. Now, engineers have sped up the process of analyzing bacterial concentrations to under one hour, through the development of a new in-field, rapid detection method.

This means that water testing will be a much more accurate indicator. Beaches that are closed based on a sample from the previous day might have swimmable water and of course the opposite could be true. In the field test results are now possible using field portable equipment. The icing on the cake would be that this system is also cheaper.