Beaches in South Florida scored high for cleanliness compared to their counterparts around the United States, according to the latest annual scorecard by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The report released Wednesday, which may surprise those who have picked their way past cigarette butts, fast-food wrappers and other debris on South Florida beaches, focused on bacteria counts from water sampled by state and local governments around the United States.

Of 46 testing sites in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, 18 had perfect scores. Of the rest, the vast majority failed to meet health standards 2 to 4 percent of the time, a much better record than the national average.

You can look up your beach by address, zip code or state here.

Nationwide, water samples exceeded national bacteria standards 8 percent of the time. But the vast majority of South Florida beaches scored well below that number, with many racking up no high bacteria counts at all. Of the 19 worst offenders among the nations beaches, in which more than 25 percent of water samples exceeded national bacteria standards, none were located in Florida. California and Louisiana dominated that list.

The main source of high bacteria counts, which indicate the present of human or animal waste, is stormwater runoff, although sewage breaks have also caused bacteria to spike. Swimming in contaminated water can put you at risk of gastrointestinal illnesses.

The worst beaches in Palm Beach County were Phil Foster Park, which exceeded safe bacteria levels in 19 percent of water samples, and Dubois Park, which exceeded them in 7 percent of samples. But several beaches had no high bacteria counts, despite regular tests.

Broward didnt have any major offenders, but one reason for this may be that the county’s water isn’t tested as frequently. Broward’s water was tested twice a month, while inMiami-Dade Countythe water is tested once a week and in Palm Beach County it is tested twice a week.

The worst beaches in Broward, with high bacteria counts in 4 percent of tests, were at Commercial Boulevard, Custer Street in Hollywood, Minnesota Street in Hollywood and Northeast 16 Street in Pompano Beach. Several beaches never had high bacteria counts, including Bahia Mar, Deerfield Beach, John U. Lloyd Beach State Park and Oakland Park Boulevard.

Miami-Dade had a few beaches with high counts, including, not surprisingly Hobie Beach (aka Dog Beach), with high bacteria counts in 10 percent of water samples, Samson Park in Sunny Isles Beach, 7 percent and Crandon Park-South, 7 percent. Among the cleanest beaches were Cape Florida Park, Golden Beach, Matheson Hammock and 93rd Street in Surfside.

View post: