Bacteria Monitoring
Background | What You Can Do | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017
2017 Save the Sound Bacterial Water Quality Data
In 2017, Save the Sound and 30 trained volunteers tested water quality at 63 sites from Greenwich, CT, through Westchester County, to Queens and Nassau County. Together we collected 639 water samples which were analyzed for the fecal indicator bacteria Enterococcus. We scored each sample based on the New York and Connecticut safe swimming standards.
Explore the map below to see what we found. The colors reflect average bacteria levels which gives a sense of how high the fecal contamination levels can get at each site. The “% Pass” and “% Fail” show how many samples passed or failed the single sample criteria for safe swimming.
We measure the EPA recommended fecal-indicator bacteria Enterococcus (Entero) which is widely used to test beach water quality for safe swimming. We score each site by applying the EPA approved weighted average (the “geometric mean”) to all the samples.
Legend
Green = Passes safe swim criteria
Orange = Fails safe swim criteria
Red = Fails safe swim criteria by 10 times or more
Summary of Findings
Overall reduction in fecal bacteria
We are seeing incremental reductions in pollution. Fecal contamination rates overall dropped from 49% contaminated in 2016 to 43% contaminated in 2017.
Failure is based on EPA safe swimming criteria used in CT and NY to monitor and manage beaches
Sound Beaches looking good
We added more swimming beach sites to our study in 2017. With an overall failure rate of 7%, these local beaches are comparable with beach quality nationwide.[1]
Failure is based on EPA safe swimming criteria used in CT and NY to monitor and manage beaches
Beaches we monitored:
Byram Park, Greenwich, CT
Douglaston Manor Beach, Queens, NYC, NY
Harbor Island Beach, Mamaroneck, NY
Shore Acres Yacht Club, Mamaroneck Village, NY
Rye Playland Park, Rye, NY
Beach Point Club, Mamaroneck Village, NY
Glen Island Park, New Rochelle, NY
To see trends on water quality at every beach on Long Island Sound, visit our site Sound Health Explorer.
[1] According to NRDC’s series of reports, “Testing the Waters,” the average beach failure rate for fecal bacteria is 8%.
Rivers in the study are still polluted
Area streams, creeks, and rivers are still polluted and continue to carry that pollution to Long Island Sound. The fecal bacteria levels in these tributaries declined slightly this year, from a 66% failure rate in 2016 to a 63% failure rate in 2017. Clearly, there is lots of room for improvement!
Failure is based on EPA safe swimming criteria used in CT and NY to monitor and manage beaches
We score each river by applying the EPA approved weighted average (the “geometric mean”) to all the samples collected in that river in 2017
Hutchinson River and Beaver Swamp Brook: polluted waterways
The Hutchinson River (above left) flows from Scarsdale, New Rochelle and Eastchester, through Mount Vernon, Pelham, Pelham Manor, and the Bronx, before entering Eastchester Bay and Long Island Sound. Save the Sound has shared our monitoring data with the EPA and brought their inspectors out on the river where they confirmed our findings of high bacteria. Now the city of Mount Vernon, one of the top polluters of this stressed river, is under court order to repair their cracked and leaking sewage infrastructure. Save the Sound has brought lawsuits against New Rochelle and Pelham Manor (among other Westchester communities) to get them to repair their old leaky pipes that can contribute to the high fecal contamination we measure.
Beaver Swamp Brook (above right), the second most polluted Westchester waterway in our study, flows through Harrison to the Village of Mamaroneck and into Mamaroneck Harbor via Guion Creek. There is a Westchester County sewer line that runs along sections of the brook and in 2016 a “softball size hole” was found in that line and repaired. Save the Sound has contacted Westchester County and urged them to inspect the remainder of that line to find and fix other possible holes that could be contributing to the high fecal bacterial levels we have measured here for years. The County is a defendant in our lawsuit for years of insufficient maintenance of county sewer lines and has not responded to these requests.
Both of these polluted rivers threaten public health by exposing residents to contaminated water. Both flow past properties used by schools where running water is a magnet to students: Beaver Swamp Brook flows by Rye Neck High School in Mamaroneck, and the Hutchinson River flows by Glover Field in Pelham Manor. Our communities and our students deserve better.
2017 Season Best and Worst
Ten Sites with the Lowest Fecal Contamination Levels (No Failing Samples)
Scores >104 are considered unsafe for swimming in marine water and > 61 are considered unsafe for freshwater.
Average (GeoMean) > 35 are considered unsafe for swimming in marine water and > 33 are considered unsafe in freshwater.
Ten Sites with the Highest Fecal Contamination Levels
Scores >104 are considered unsafe for swimming in marine water and > 61 are considered unsafe for freshwater.
Average (GeoMean) > 35 are considered unsafe for swimming in marine water and > 33 are considered unsafe in freshwater.
Be a Part of the Solution
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Everyone can help reduce sewage pollution sources simply by conserving water, which will lessen the wear-and-tear on our water infrastructure and reduce sewage overflows by lowering the volume of water in the system.
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Homeowners need to repair the sewer lines that connect homes and businesses to municipal sewers, or maintain their septic systems.
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Dog owners should put pet waste in the trash, never in a catch basin or on the street.
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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.
Background | What You Can Do | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017