Orange Beach, Ala. — (GSN) — A public swimming advisory has been issued for the waters of Wolf Bay at the Orange Beach Waterfront Park following consecutive tests showing poor water quality, health officials announced Tuesday.

The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) issued the warning after two successive water quality tests revealed elevated bacteria levels. Officials caution that swimming in the affected area carries an increased risk of illness.

The swimming advisory will remain in place until routine monitoring indicates that bacteria levels have dropped safely below the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) established threshold. For marine water, that limit is 104 enterococcus organisms per 100 milliliters.

Enterococci are bacteria typically found in the intestines of humans and warm-blooded animals. While high concentrations can indicate the potential presence of other disease-causing germs, officials noted that there are no known active sewage spills in the area. Instead, bacterial spikes in recreational waters are common during or immediately after rainstorms, often driven by stormwater runoff, overflowing wastewater systems, agricultural runoff, or malfunctioning septic systems.

The warning is part of a joint bacteriological water quality monitoring and notification program conducted by the ADPH and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), funded by a grant from the EPA’s BEACH Act Program. The initiative regularly tests water samples from 25 high-use coastal recreational destinations across the state. Per program protocol, any site exceeding EPA standards is immediately retested; a public advisory is triggered if the second test confirms that the high bacteria levels persist.

Members of the public looking for real-time updates on the status of this and other local beach advisories can find more information on ADEM’s official coastal monitoring website.