Rapid tests are being conducted on beaches in northern Michigan

In many northern Michigan counties, beach alerts about unsafe E. coli levels in lake water are often not issued until the day after the water is tested, making them less helpful to swimmers concerned about current water quality.

The Northwest Michigan Health Department is switching to a new type of test that will deliver results much faster. It is responsible for testing 50 inland and Great Lakes beaches in Antrim, Charlevoix, Emmet and Otsego counties.

Instead of the previous 18 hours, the turnaround time on some beaches in the area of ​​responsibility is now less than six hours.

Dan Thorell, the agency’s health officer, hopes to have “results available by 4 p.m. this afternoon” for beaches tested this morning.

The tests are carried out using qPCR, a method of examining the actual DNA of bacteria. They are used instead of the old tests in which the bacteria were incubated and grown under certain conditions in the laboratory.

The Northwest Michigan Department of Health is testing the qPCR program alongside traditional testing at eight beaches. Thorell said the rapid testing methods will also be used to re-sample contaminated beaches in hopes of lifting warnings sooner.

As part of the pilot program, the agency will also test an additional testing method called “source tracing.” This method can determine whether E. coli bacteria present in water came from cows or humans, allowing agencies to tackle the problem at the source.

Thorell explained: “It gives you the clues you need to look further upstream and find out what’s actually going on there… If it was a cow mark, is there a farm nearby?”

Thorell said waterfowl are a major source of contamination, but believes “finding geese using source tracking is not reliable at this time.”

His department was able to expand and accelerate its testing program thanks to grants from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy specifically designed to help local agencies conduct rapid testing and source tracing.

Thorell said the team is still working to get the qPCR system up and running in the coming weeks and expects to perfect the process and begin same-day reporting soon.

As usual, alerts are only issued when there are problems, and rapid tests that are negative are not reported on the same day.