After murky brown water at Coronado Beach raised concerns among beachgoers last week, San Diego County health officials are giving the public a closer look at how they determine whether it’s safe to enter the ocean.
The San Diego County Department of Environmental Health and Quality invited ABC 10News to observe its daily water sampling process at Silver Strand, one of more than a dozen beaches monitored each morning before sunrise.
Supervising Environmental Health Specialist Romina Schiess said county crews collect samples from beaches spanning the U.S.-Mexico border to the northern edge of San Diego County. The samples are analyzed at the county’s laboratory for enterococcus, a bacteria found in fecal matter that is used to assess potential sewage contamination…