
As of the posting of the water quality report from August 13, all six Swampscott beaches tested met state water quality standards, with bacterial levels far below safety limits.
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.
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 August 13 results.
Fisherman’s Beach, tested at 8:35 a.m.
Single-Sample Bacterial Results – 5.00 cfu/100 ml
Geometric Mean Results – 8.71 cfu/100 ml
King’s Beach, tested at 8:20 a.m.
Single-Sample Bacterial Results – 10.00 cfu/100 ml
Geometric Mean Results – 10.50 cfu/100 ml
New Ocean/Eisman’s, tested at 8:56 a.m.
Single-Sample Bacterial Results – 5.00 cfu/100 ml
Geometric Mean Results – 5.74 cfu/100 ml
Phillips, tested at 9:10 a.m.
Single-Sample Bacterial Results – 5.00 cfu/100 ml
Geometric Mean Results – 5.00 cfu/100 ml
Preston, tested at 9:23 a.m.
Single-Sample Bacterial Results – 5.00 cfu/100 ml
Geometric Mean Results – 13.91 cfu/100 ml
Whales, tested at 8:48 a.m.
Single-Sample Bacterial Results – 5.00 cfu/100 ml
Geometric Mean Results – 10.00 cfu/100 ml
