I like to check here if it's been raining: http://sfwater.org/custom/lims/beachmain1.cfm/MC_ID/5/MSC_ID/14
If I see green dots, then I should be able to surf right?
Last week when I went out after it was raining I got sick. that's happened a few times actually. Maybe a coincidence?
What's your experience, do you have any concrete facts?
I'm already congested still from last week, so I'll just go today at least...
"If I see green dots, then I should be able to surf right?"
I suppose if the dots don't bother you too much. But, you might want to see an optometrist if the dots persist. ;)
It was a lot of fun though, OH clean outer bar. deteriorated but a window of awesomeness.
Experience says it's real easy to get sick when you surf within a few days of a heavy rain, especially stuff like sinus infections.
How many folks have absolutely (totally for real) got sick because you surfed after a rain?
I know 2 people who have gotten nasty sinus infections and another with a gross ear infection after surfing in funky water (ie posted not safe) who were otherwise healthy and unlikely to be exposed to said infections any other way.
I also know that on a couple of occasions a break to be named later has tested positive for MRSA during independent testing (a friends MA project) by someone intellectually curious about what was out there after posted combined overflow.
And one wonders would you put on a wetsuit and roll around in the gutter on mission? Or Folsom? Or Polk? Or Ellis?
That stuff all ends up out there with us in the lineup (minus some solids) cause that is how our sewer systems roll...
And don't get me started on the mess that EBMUD makes!
@Rev.MCC: add all the bacteria that live in the storm sewers. There's some funky stuff down there.
not to mention thousands of the cigarette butts that get washed into the drains and into our ocean, all the bus stops in the city need little cigarette disposal things, people just toss them shits and they pile up by the hundreds.
@shredlife. So there's a risk of jock cancer from passive cigarette butt bathing too??
Well, I won't know if I contracted a new sinus infection until tomorrow... BUT... I'm optimistic because this time there hasn't been sewage overflow like there was last time I did get sick.
I'm going to try this out:
If there's been sewage overflow reported, I will wait 48 hours.
If it's rained and there has been no sewage overflow, I will go surfing like I did yesterday.
There's a world of misunderstanding in this thread.
With the exception of about 7 or 8 times a year, San Francisco is probably the safest place to surf after a rain. All that crap does _not_ end up in the water. Everything, including street runoff, gets fully treated before it is released. It's not just "some solids" that are stripped out. Compare to somewhere like Los Angeles, where whatever ends up in the river ends up verbatim in the water, and surfing after even a minor rain is a bacteriological crapshoot.
Then we have the overflow events, which everyone likes to bitch about. As far as I'm concerned, they're a consequence of a better-designed system. Would you prefer 7 or 8 overflows a year, or gurch in the water every time it rains? Street runoff contains easily as much dangerous crap as raw sewage, anyway.
no no no,it's not safe to surf when it rains, or it's raining. Let's keep it at that :)
alas I wish it were so Tehdely but our near shore waters test high in all kinds of nastiness and it is always way worse after a rain.
This is not opinion but science aromatic hydrocarbons, oil, solvents, pesticides, and a whole host of human pathogens spike post rain storms and there is testing data to demonstrate this.
Yes I'll grant our wastewater treatment is better than some.
No we're not as bad as LA.
But there is the rest of the bay area to consider (EBMUD, Marin, Sacramento, Martinez, etc) in addition to our little 49 sq miles in SF and they have a significant impact.
So yeah we're better than some and worse than others..
But the testing shows spikes post rain in a lot of things you'd rather not be bathing in..
Well most of us at least (grin.. no slam intended) would not want to bath in...
peaceout
It would probably be safe if you had a beach that didn't have a creek feeding into it somewhere. The closer the creek to people, the nastier it is gonna be. A remote beach should be fine, a little deer and bird poop isn't gonna hurt you too bad, maybe some runny bowels if you are unlucky, but I won't hit LM after a heavy rain next to the creek on the ######, that has to get foul as all getup.
