7-5 E. coli Results

[Ryan O'Donnell]

The second monitoring day for the Deerfield River Watershed Association was Wednesday, July 5th. I've attached the results in pdf and png format for you to forward, share online, or print and post.

Volunteers collected samples throughout the Deerfield River watershed and its tributaries that were tested for E. coli bacteria. E. coli is a bacteria found in the guts of all warm- blooded animals, including humans and is used as an indicator to test water for fecal contamination. The EPA recommends against primary contact (fully immersing in the water, i.e. swimming) when there are more than 235 organisms/100 mL water. Bacteria levels are often elevated after heavy rains due to bacteria being carried into nearby rivers by runoff. Because of this, we note whether results are from wet or dry weather sampling events.

There were heavy rains over the week leading up to sampling. Flows were extremely high and not all volunteers were able to safely collect samples at all sites. Results were relatively low at many sites considering the rain. Sometimes, with such high volumes of water, bacteria levels actually get diluted even with all of runoff carrying all sorts of stuff with it into the river. Regardless of bacteria levels, more rain is predicted in the watershed in the coming week and with that I would expect to continue to see very high summer flows. Please use caution when deciding whether to swim in local rivers since these flows can be very dangerous.

Please use these and historic sampling results to help make informed decisions about when and where to recreate more safely. You can also reduce the risk of waterborne illness by avoiding getting water in your mouth, cover any open wounds, and washing hands before eating and drinking after recreating in natural waters.

See these results and more from throughout the Connecticut River watershed at www.ctriver.org/isitclean

Thank you for your interest and support in clean water in the Deerfield watershed!

Ryan O'Donnell

 

He/Him

Water Quality Program Manager

Connecticut River Conservancy

15 Bank Row | Greenfield, MA 01301 

(413) 834-9939 | rodo...@ctriver.org 

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