It was a bit of a rainy week, though the water testing results have not changed drastically – though both Whales and New Ocean Beaches dropped back down. As of the posting of the water quality report from June 25, Swampscott’s beaches remain open.
As there is some rain predicted for Friday, it is important beachgoers still check out signs posted at the beaches that indicate swimming is not suggested 48 to 72 hours after precipitation.
Starting next week, the Swampscott Board of Health will test at Fisherman’s Beach Monday through Friday for six weeks to assess improvements in water quality as the town continues to work on illicit discharge detection and elimination (IDDE) and related storm drain system issues.
According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, water is considered safe when bacterial levels are at or below 104 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters (cfu/100 ml).
An additional measure, the geometric mean, reflects average water quality over the past month, based on the five most recent test results. For marine beaches, the allowable geometric mean is 35 cfu/100 ml. The geometric mean is not reported yet due to the lack of data.
Beachgoers can view bacteria levels on the Department of Public Health’s interactive website, though the data is updated with a 24-hour delay.
Below are the June 25 results.
Fisherman’s Beach
Single-Sample Bacterial Results – 5.00 cfu/100 ml
King’s Beach
Single-Sample Bacterial Results – 10.00 cfu/100 ml
It should be noted that King’s Beach is closed on Lynn’s side at Eastern Avenue, Kimball Road and Pierce Road.
New Ocean/Eisman’s Beach
Single-Sample Bacterial Results – 5.00 cfu/100 ml
Phillips Beach
Single-Sample Bacterial Results – 5.00 cfu/100 ml
Preston Beach
Single-Sample Bacterial Results – 5.00 cfu/100 ml
Whales Beach
Single-Sample Bacterial Results – 5.00 cfu/100 ml
