Water Quality

Fertilizers are added to soil in order to promote plant growth. Fertilizers provide plants, in varying proportions, three major plant nutrients: phosphorous, nitrogen, and potassium.  The excessive or incorrect use of fertilizer has been found to lead to algal blooms and can affect the quality of our water.

Learn more about fertilizers: Fertilizers and Biscayne Bay

Water testing in Miami Beach occurs for two different purposes:

1. to determine whether our waterways are safe for swimming and recreation, and
2. to monitor the health of our waterways.

Data collected for recreation is used by Miami-Dade County’s Department of Health (DOH) and the city to determine whether a “no contact with water” advisory is warranted. Data collected to monitor the health of our waterways is used to inform the city’s decisions in stormwater management and pollution prevention. This data-driven approach ensures staff time, resources and funding are directed to where they will have the greatest public and environmental benefit.

It should be noted that only sampling results processed in labs certified under the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (NELAP) are used to make official decisions, such as issuing advisories or making operation adjustments. NELAP is one of 13 Accreditation Bodies in the United States recognized under the Florida Department of Health’s Environmental Laboratory Certification Program. To get certified under NELAP, laboratories are required to demonstrate that they can produce high-quality testing results in the interest of protecting the health and environment of Florida’s citizens.

1. Sampling for Recreation

Sampling for recreation along our beaches is led by FDOH as part of the state-wide Florida Healthy Beaches Program. Every Monday FDOH collects water quality samples in the Atlantic Ocean at four established sampling points: the beaches in the vicinity of 1st Street, 21st Street, 53rd Street, and 73rd Street. At the request of the city, FDOH also samples the ocean water in the vicinity of 79th Street and at the public boat launch at Maurice Gibb Park on the Bayside. These samples are taken to a NELAP-certified lab where they are tested for enterococcus, a type of fecal indicator bacteria that is used to determine the potential presence of disease-causing organisms in saltwater. If enterococcus levels are present above the State’s recreational water quality standard for beaches of 70 CFU/100mL in a sample, the FDOH will issue a “no contact with water” advisory for the affected area.

2. Emergency Sampling

In the event of an environmental incident, such as a wastewater spill, the city will conduct water quality sampling. Sampling points are established around the known discharge point to determine the extent of affected waters. If enterococcus levels are present above the State’s recreational water quality standard for surface waters of 70 CFU/100mL, the city will issue a “no contact with water advisory” for the affected area.

The Florida Department of Health (FDOH) and the city to determine whether a “no contact with water” advisory is warranted. When a “no contact with water advisory” is issued, the city will re-test the affected location daily and will lift the advisory once enterococcus levels test below the respective State recreational water quality standard for two consecutive days.

Stormwater Management Bay Sampling

The City of Miami Beach conducts monthly water quality testing in Biscayne Bay at approximately 35 stations throughout the city’s waterways. These sampling locations were added voluntarily by the City as an extension of the larger Biscayne Bay sampling network, which Miami-Dade County has been monitoring every month for more than 40 years.

Consistent with the County’s methodology, the samples are analyzed for physical (i.e., temperature), chemical (i.e., nutrients) and biological (i.e., enterococcus) parameters at a NELAP-certified lab. City staff reviews the sampling results as they come in each month, as well as annually to inform stormwater management decisions. The results are provided to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection each year as part of the city’s National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit Annual Report.

Data collected to monitor the health of our waterways is used to inform the city’s decisions in stormwater management and pollution prevention. This data-driven approach ensures staff time, resources and funding are directed to where they will have the greatest public and environmental benefit. It should be noted that only sampling results processed in labs certified under the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (NELAP) are used to make official decisions, such as issuing advisories or making operation adjustments. NELAP is one of 13 Accreditation Bodies in the United States recognized under the Florida Department of Health’s Environmental Laboratory Certification Program. To get certified under NELAP, laboratories are required to demonstrate that they can produce high-quality testing results in the interest of protecting the health and environment of Florida’s citizens.

Ordinance 2021-4435 – Water Quality

This Ordinance aims to safeguard persons, protect property, and prevent damage to the environment, Miami Beach's surface waters, and Biscayne Bay through the regulation of non-stormwater discharges and pollutants into the City's municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4), Biscayne Bay, and surface waters, to the maximum extent practicable.