Click on the black site circles on the map or from the list above to see photos of our sampling sites.
Water samples were collected weekly over a period of four months at each of the seven beaches at the Windward area. Samples were collected in 100 mL sterile disposable bottles and transported (in an ice cooler) to the Water Quality Laboratory on the Windward Campus.
Salinity measurements were taken using a Leica Refractometer. Enterococci most probable number (MPN) analysis was done using EPA approved IDEXX Enterolert method. Enterolert uses 4-methylumbelliferyl-B-D-glucoside as the nutrient indicator. This compound, when metabolized by enterococci present in the water sample, releases 4-methylumbelliferone, which exhibits blue fluorescence under the long-wavelength ultraviolet lamp.
EPA standards for the yearly geometric mean (geomean) values for enterococci concentrations are set at 35 enterococci bacteria/100 mL in marine water (51 Fr 8012, March 7, 1986). The State of Hawaii, which has the most stringent standard of all the states, has set 7 enterococci/ 100 mL (Dept of Health, 1990).