Hey guys first week of beach water sampling is done. I really like it and I get to see so much. I am sampling beaches in the Lake County area of Illinois. There are four main routes that myself and the other intern get to sample. There is the inland route which is mainly the North route and the South Inland route as you can guess the South part of the county. Then on of my favorites which is along Lake Michigan. The views in the morning from that route are the best. I get up so early as im sampling I get to see the sunrise. My main job is to collect samples from each beach two per beach and then take air and water temp and report if any animals are at the beach. Then I take the samples back to the lab. From there we test for e-coli in the water. If there is over 235 e-coli counted per sample then we need to inform the beach owners that they need to shut down. I haven't had any beaches that have had to be shut down yet. But Im sure through out the season there will be a couple beaches that will be shut down. Maybe this next week we will have a closure. Ill keep you posted.
Casey
