HomeMy WebLinkAboutContract- UIC - Continued Beach Quality Water Testing Ex. 9.30.26 Memorandum
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Ike Ogbo, Health & Human Services Director
Subject: Approval of Contract with the University of Illinois for Continued Beach
Quality Water Testing at All Evanston Beaches
Date: April 14, 2025
Recommended Action:
Staff recommends City Council to authorize the City Manager to renew an agreement with
the University of Illinois (UIC) Public Health (Chicago, 1603 W. Taylor, Chicago IL, 60607) to
continue to provide qPCR water testing at all Evanston beaches in order to provide the latest
and safest public health measures for all Evanston beachgoers. The request is for a 3-year
term agreement with an option to renew for an additional year at a cost not to exceed
$115,000. The 2025 total contract cost is $100,000, but the funding request is $92,000. An
EPA-IDPH grant will cover $8,000 of the contract cost (FY25 Beach Grant awarded is
$18,900).
Funding Source:
Funding is provided from the General Fund- Public Health ( Account 100.24.2435.62472 )
with an approved FY 2025 balance of $115,000 and an EPA - IDPH grant ( Account
100.24.2435.5525) with a balance of $18,900.
CARP:
Municipal Operations
Council Action:
For Action
Summary:
The City Council allocated funds to update beach water testing methodologies and
operations at all 7 beaches in Evanston for 2024 and the current 2025 budget.
Methodology and Operations:
For years, the Evanston Health and Human Services Department (HHS) had relied on an
older methodology of testing the beach water, which is known as Colilert-18. It is a liquid
culture method that detects bacteria in water, but unfortunately, it has a turnaround time of
Doc ID: ae501bba866798e1f6b3ca37e3534853effd5a66
18-22 hours for confirmed results. The results were based on the water analysis of the
previous 18-22 hours, which possibly led to a number of unnecessary beach closures,
thereby significantly impacting beach operations. In 2024, the Department implemented the
use of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) analysis, which is the most advanced and
currently the fastest technology available to determine microbial contamination and beach
water quality.
The primary advantage of qPCR testing when compared to Colilert-18 is that results are
available in as few as three hours after sample collection. In 2024, the qPCR method
produced same-day results, which led to zero beach closures, fewer false positive results,
and no impacts to beach operations. Unnecessary beach closures, false positive results, and
impact to beach operations were characterized with the old Colilert-18 method that was
utilized prior to 2024. The advanced science of utilizing qPCR to analyze beach water has
expedited results, thereby allowing for quicker public health decisions for the safety of all
Evanston beachgoers.
Environmental Health Beach Monitoring Grant
Since 2001, the EPA has awarded grants under the authority of the BEACH Act to develop
and implement programs to monitor beach water quality and notify the public when it is not
safe to swim or play in the beaches. The EPA provides grants to States and territories to
ensure they are in line with the BEACH Act requirements. The Illinois Department of Public
Health (IDPH) passes this grant on to five Illinois communities, with Evanston being one of
them. Staff have continued to apply and receive the beach monitoring grant from IDPH since
2004.
For FY 2025, $18,900 has been allocated by IDPH for Evanston beach operations and
salaries for personnel. HHS will be responsible for hiring staff to collect and deliver samples
to the UIC lab for analysis. The staff salary, mileage, and miscellaneous expenses will cost
an estimated $10,900 for the 14 weeks of beach operations. The remaining $8,000 from the
grant will be applied to reduce the UIC contract funding request from $100,000 to $
92,000/year.
Responsibility of the Department
HHS will continue to be actively involved in administering the beach water safety program as
qPCR testing has been incorporated into City operations. The Department will continue to be
responsible for the following:
• Making public announcements, issuing beach advisories, interpreting data, and reporting
beach closures. HHS issues beach advisories and closures that are in alignment with the
recommendations of the USEPA and have been approved by IDPH.
HHS issues beach advisories when the beach action value of 1,000 CCE is exceeded.
1,000 CCE is the value used for the indication of pollution/contamination by the indicator
bacteria, Enterococci.
oBeach closures occur in the event of a high-risk contamination event, such as when the
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District opens the Wilmette Locks.
Doc ID: ae501bba866798e1f6b3ca37e3534853effd5a66
Information pertinent to the quality of the beach water or modifications of beach operations
will continue to be communicated to the public via a press release and other communication
channels, including the City website.
•Providing staff to collect and deliver samples to the lab.
•Educating and creating awareness of the importance of beach water safety.
•Applying and maintaining the IDPH-EPA beach grant.
•Working with UIC to ensure that the beach water regulations are maintained and working in
various capacities to ensure there are no issues with Evanston beach operations and
activities.
• Attending training, including the International Association for Great Lakes Research
(IAGL) conferences, to stay abreast of best practices, trends, and regulations.
Legislative History:
On May 13, 2024, the City Council approved the first use of qPCR beach water testing to
ensure that the most appropriate public health measures are implemented at all Evanston
beaches.
Attachments:
UIC Beach Water Testing Contract
Doc ID: ae501bba866798e1f6b3ca37e3534853effd5a66
Doc ID: ae501bba866798e1f6b3ca37e3534853effd5a66
Doc ID: ae501bba866798e1f6b3ca37e3534853effd5a66
Doc ID: ae501bba866798e1f6b3ca37e3534853effd5a66
Doc ID: ae501bba866798e1f6b3ca37e3534853effd5a66
Aaron Rosenthal, Assistant
Vice Chancellor for Purchasing
and Contract Management
2026.02.25 13:19:12 -06'00'Luke Stowe
City Manager
Approved as to form:
Alexandra B. Ruggie
Corporation Counsel
03 / 17 / 2026
Doc ID: ae501bba866798e1f6b3ca37e3534853effd5a66
ontract with the University of Illinois for Continued Beach...
Memo.pdf and 1 other
ae501bba866798e1f6b3ca37e3534853effd5a66
MM / DD / YYYY
Signed
03 / 16 / 2026
14:39:08 UTC-5
Sent for signature to Alexandra Ruggie
(aruggie@cityofevanston.org) and Luke Stowe
(lstowe@cityofevanston.org) from lthomas@cityofevanston.org
IP: 66.158.65.76
03 / 16 / 2026
14:39:31 UTC-5
Viewed by Alexandra Ruggie (aruggie@cityofevanston.org)
IP: 24.13.226.57
03 / 16 / 2026
14:39:44 UTC-5
Signed by Alexandra Ruggie (aruggie@cityofevanston.org)
IP: 24.13.226.57
03 / 17 / 2026
17:41:10 UTC-5
Viewed by Luke Stowe (lstowe@cityofevanston.org)
IP: 50.230.108.29
03 / 17 / 2026
17:42:37 UTC-5
Signed by Luke Stowe (lstowe@cityofevanston.org)
IP: 50.230.108.29
The document has been completed.03 / 17 / 2026
17:42:37 UTC-5