The Blue Water Task Force is Surfrider’s volunteer water quality monitoring program that provides critical water quality information to protect public health at the beach. Surfrider chapters use this program to raise awareness of local pollution problems and to bring together communities to implement solutions.
Blue Water Task Force (BWTF) labs measure fecal indicator bacteria levels in recreational waters and compare them to water quality standards set to protect public health. Chapter-run BWTF programs fill in the gaps and extend the coverage of agency-run beach monitoring programs by sampling ocean and bay beaches, estuaries and potential freshwater sources of pollution such as stormwater outlets, rivers and creeks that discharge onto the beach.
Surfrider Foundation Palm Beach County partners with several local high schools and Boca Save Our Beaches to carry out their Blue Water Task Force testing program. Volunteers collect water samples, and bring them to the labs to be processed by the students at Jupiter High School's Green Schools Club, Forest Hill High School, and most recently, Boca Raton High School.
Our BWTF data augments the beach monitoring program conducted by Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County and helps build community awareness of local pollution issues.
If you are interested in becoming a BWTF volunteer, please contact bwtflw@palmbeachcounty.surfrider.org
Local Water Quality Resources
Map and current status of Red Tides (marine water) monitored by Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Algal bloom samping results (fresh water) from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.