FAIRHOPE, Ala. — The Baldwin County Health Department lifted the swimming advisory at Fairhope Municipal Beach Thursday afternoon.

“The result from the sample collected at (that) site on Aug. 19 is 46, so Fairhope will go back to green status, meaning the water quality is again acceptable,” said Suzi Rice, of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management’s Field Operations Division in Mobile, on Thursday afternoon. “The sign will be changed this afternoon before 5 p.m. and the (county) health department will lift the swimming advisory that was issued yesterday.”

Based on water samples collected from that Fairhope beach location near the municipal pier on Wednesday, swimming water quality is again good, with enterococci levels below the Environmental Protection Agency threshold of 104 colonies per 100 milliliters, stated the county health department news release yesterday.

“Samples are analyzed for enterococci bacteria,” the news release stated. “High counts indicate the possibility that other disease-causing germs could be present in the water. These indicator bacteria are inhabitants of the intestines of humans and other warm-blooded animals.”

The swimming advisory issued on Aug. 19 warned of an increased risk of illness associated with swimming at the affected site.

That warning came as unwelcome news to four swimmers at the Fairhope beach at about 6 p.m. Wednesday, as they were drying off from a 20-minute swim along the beach, as part of their training for an upcoming triathlon.

“I didn’t notice the sign,” one of the women said, asking that her name not be used. “I did check Orange Street and it was green earlier today.”

Less than two weeks ago, swimming advisories were posted at the Orange Street Pier, which has a public beach; the Fairhope Municipal Beach and the public beach at Volanta Avenue. Those advisories were posted after partially treated effluent was discharged from the city’s wastewater treatment plant on Aug. 8 and 9. The advisories were posted as a precaution before testing results were received. When the results came back, none of the beaches showed levels above 104 and the signs were changed from red to green.

“They need a bigger sign,” another of the swimmers stated, referring to the sign at the Fairhope beach.

That sign is at the gated entrance to the park, behind a stop sign next to the guard house, where an employee works from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the summer months. He said Thursday that he told most drivers about the sign as they drove through, especially those with children.

“All of the beach signs in Baldwin and Mobile counties (that) are used for the (coastal beach monitoring program) are the same size,” Rice said. “Nowhere in the (EPA guidance documents) does it state that the beach signs have to be of a certain dimension.”

Rice also noted that swimming advisories do not officially close a beach but are “recommendations to the public to avoid swimming in water that exceeded applicable water quality standards to reduce the potential of contracting a swimming-related illness.”

The results for Monday and Tuesday were 140 and Thursday, the result was 46. In June, a swimming advisory was issued in Fairhope when a test result showed a count of 400.

Rice said the current testing protocol could not identify the possible sources of pollution but that the state environmental agency was exploring the possibility of obtaining funding for additional tests that would help point to the causes of the elevated levels.

”Bacterial concentrations in recreational waters can increase during and immediately following rainstorms due to overflowing sewage collection and treatment facilities, stormwater runoff, malfunctioning septic systems and agricultural runoff,” the health department’s Aug. 19 news release stated. “No known sewage spills have occurred.”

Rice said that statement by the health department meant that ADEM had not received notice of any sewage discharge from the local wastewater treatment plant since the Aug. 9 notice. That earlier release, which also was not characterized as a sewage spill because the city said raw sewage was not released, but that only wastewater that had not received the final disinfectant process was released. That treatment failure occurred because of a plant shutdown caused by an electrical problem, according to city officials.

At the time, the city water and sewer department reported to ADEM that approximately 300,000 gallons of partially treated effluent had been discharged into Mobile Bay, and Dan McCrory, department superintendent, said the plant was shut down for about six to seven hours.

“It now looks like it was over 12 hours,” said McCrory, referring to how long the plant was shut down. He said Thursday afternoon that the discrepancy in time was based on computer error, and updated information had been provided to ADEM stating that the total partially treated effluent released was between 400,000 and 500,000 gallons.