National Epidemiological and Environmental Assessment of Recreational Water

EPA's NEEAR Water Study investigates human health effects associated with recreational water use.

Mission & Objectives

The National Epidemiological and Environmental Assessment of Recreational (NEEAR) Water Study is a collaborative research study between two laboratories of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that are investigating human health effects and rapid water quality methods associated with recreational water use. This study will provide real-time water quality measurements and help us better understand the link between water pollution, swimming at the beach, and peoples' health. A main goal of the NEEAR study is to determine how new ways of measuring water pollution can be used effectively to protect swimmers' health.

Water Quality Assessment

As part of this study, water quality is being assessed by EPA researchers using new rapid, real-time (≤ 2 hours) methods, the new EPA monitoring protocol (See the EMPACT Study.), and the currently approved membrane filter method for enterococci (EPA Method 1600, mEI Agar). To obtain the most accurate measurements, the Agency will be using state-of-the-art equipment and techniques to help assess the water quality of our Nations recreational waters in real-time.

Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (QPCR)

EPA Method 1600

Study Objectives

The objectives of the NEEAR Water Study are to:

• Evaluate the water quality at one or two beaches per year.
• Obtain and evaluate a new set of health and water quality data for the new rapid, state-of-the-art methods.
• Communicate the results to the US EPA Office of Water in support of their efforts to develop new state and federal guidelines and limits for water quality indicators of fecal contamination, so that beach managers and public health officials can alert the public about the potential health hazards before exposure to unsafe water can occur.

2009 NEEAR Study Sites - New!

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces the selection of two beach sites for health studies in the summer of 2009. EPA will be conducting NEEAR studies at Surfside Beach, South Carolina, and Boquerón Beach, Puerto Rico. The science is directed at developing new ways of measuring water quality that will provide faster results and reduce the risk of waterborne illness from swimming at beaches. The results from these tests will inform EPA in the development of new or revised water quality criteria for protection of recreational waters in 2012. (See science in action fact sheet).

Study Results

The NEEAR study's first major publication was released in September 2005. View the abstract or full article:

• Rapidly Measured Indicators of Recreational Water Quality are Predictive of Swimming Associated Gastrointestinal Illness
• Wade TJ, Calderon RL, Sams E, Beach M, Brenner KP, Williams AH, Dufour AP. Rapidly measured indicators of recreational water quality are predictive of swimming-associated gastrointestinal illness. Environ Health Perspect. 2006 Jan;114(1):24-8.
• Wymer LJ and Wade TJ. 2007. "The Lognormal Distribution and Use of the Geometric Mean and the Arithmetic Mean in Recreational Water Quality Measurement" in Statistical Framework for Recreational Water Quality Criteria and Monitoring (in press), John Wiley & Sons Ltd., Chichester
• Colford JM Jr, Wade TJ, Schiff KC, Wright CC, Griffith JF, Sandhu SK, Burns S, Sobsey M, Lovelace G, Weisberg SB. Water quality indicators and the risk of illness at beaches with nonpoint sources of fecal contamination. Epidemiology. 2007 Jan;18(1):27-35.
• Wade TJ, Calderon RL, Brenner KP, Sams E, Beach M, Haugland R, Wymer L, Dufour AP; High sensitivity of children to swimming-associated gastrointestinal illness: results using a rapid assay of recreational water quality. Epidemiology. 2008 May; 19(3):375-83.
• Molina, M. Evaluation Of Selected DNA-Based Technology in Impaired Watersheds Impacted by Fecal Contamination from Diverse Sources. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-07/123, 2007.
• Siefring S., Varma M., Atikovic E., Wymer L., and Haugland R.A. Improved real-time PCR assays for the detection of fecal indicator bacteria in surface waters with different instrument and reagent systems. J Water Health 2008: 6(2): 225-237.