Palma Sola Beach South hit with ‘no swim’ advisory

The Florida Department of Health in Manatee takes bi-weekly water samples in bay areas around Bradenton and sends them to a laboratory in Palmetto called Benchmark Enviroanalytical.

In the last two years, not a single test the local lab did came back with levels of bacteria high enough to call for a swimming ban.

But last Thursday, Benchmark confirmed that a sample from Palma Sola Beach South approximately 1,000 feet west of 81st Street West on the south side of the causeway showed an elevated level of a bacteria called enterococci.

On Monday, Department of Health officials immediately put up signs at Palma Sola for the county’s first “No Swim Advisory” since 2014.

The Palma Sola Beach South water will be tested again on Feb. 6 and results will be available on Feb. 8. The advisory will be in effect until the water meets Environmental Protection Agency safety guidelines, Iovino added.