Clean Beaches and Streams

The goals of the Clean Beaches and Streams Program are to reduce the bacterial levels in Salem Sound and Massachusetts Bay and to reduce public exposure to bacterial water pollution at area beaches. SSCW’s Clean Beaches and Streams Program monitors local stormwater outfall pipes and streams to determine if bacteria from leaking sewers or septic systems are getting into the Sound. Over the past three decades, SSCW has worked with local cities and towns to locate and fix many faulty sewer and septic systems resulting in a cleaner ocean.

Every two weeks from June to August, volunteers take water samples from streams and outfall pipes that empty out onto our coastal beaches. All samples are analyzed by BioMarine for Enterococcus. Like the more familiar E. coli, enterococci are part of the normal intestinal flora of humans and animals but are also important pathogens that are responsible for serious infections. US EPA has determined that the Enterococcus group is a better indicator of potential public health risk of waterborne disease than fecal coliform bacteria in marine waters.

The biweekly results are then shared with the watershed’s municipalities as well as the public. At the end of the monitoring season, Salem Sound Coastwatch meets with each municipality to review the results and to determine the source(s) of pollution and steps for mitigation.