Bacteria Monitoring
Background | What You Can Do | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017
Since 2013, Save the Sound has been running a seasonal water quality monitoring program to measure bacteria levels at beaches, shorelines, streams, and rivers in western Long Island Sound. Every year we expand our testing area (which now includes Westchester County, NY shoreline communities, Greenwich, CT, Little Neck Bay Queens, NY, and Manhasset Bay, Nassau County). We use our data to identify and eliminate sources of fecal contamination, drive investment in wastewater infrastructure repairs, and engage the public and elected officials in combating this persistent and hazardous form of water pollution.
What We Test For
The primary pollution that public health authorities test for when determining whether or not water is safe for human contact is bacteria associated with fecal matter. Human and animal waste contains disease-causing bacteria, or pathogens, that pose a threat to public health.
Our human waste stream also contains other contaminants that are harmful to wildlife and the aquatic ecosystem such as pharmaceuticals, cleaning products, petroleum, and other toxins scoured from the roads and industrial sites in the watershed.
In order to measure the level of fecal contamination in the water, Save the Sound tests for two EPA approved fecal-indicators, Enterococcus and fecal coliform.
Enterococcus (Entero) is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommended fecal-indicator and is widely used to test beach water quality. It can be used to monitor fresh or salt water.
Fecal Coliform is a fecal-indicator used by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) to monitor water quality in fresh water. NYS DEC is currently considering using Enterococcus as the preferred indicator in fresh and salt water.
How to Interpret the Data
Geometric Mean (GM) is a weighted average that dampens the influence of very high and very low counts. It is most useful in seeing the severity of fecal contamination and in tracking trends over long periods of time. We have calculated a GM for each of our sample locations with multiple data points.
Our Sampling Protocol
Our staff trains and supervises citizen volunteers in the proper methodology for collecting water quality samples. Most samples are collected from the shoreline or by wading into a waterway; some are collected by boat.
We sample in both wet and dry weather and record precipitation data from nearby weather stations provided on the Weather Underground website. Save the Sound defines wet weather samples as those collected when there is ½ inch or greater of cumulative rainfall on the day of sampling and three days prior. Wet weather samples are marked in blue on the data spreadsheets.
Save the Sound staff and trained volunteers test the samples we collect at our new lab in Mamaroneck following the protocol detailed in our Quality Assurance Project Plan. Our equipment, provided through an EPA loan program, allows us to measure conductivity, turbidity, and temperature. EPA has provided training and reviewed our protocols & quality control standards to ensure our findings are accurate and reliable.
Look for Pollution!
If you see sewage overflowing in your community please let us know by sending a photograph or video and the time and location of the overflow to pollution@savethesound.org.
You can view historic data from your local beaches on the Sound Health Explorer.
Background | What You Can Do | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017