A (pretty) clean bill of health for the Merrimack this season 8.21.14

Dear River Friends,

All sites sampled yesterday are well below the Class B standard of 406 E. coli colony counts per 100 millitres of water. All sites except for Sites 2 and 6 are below the designated swim beach standard of 88 colonies. While we have had lower results over the years, these are still great for a large river that serves multiple uses including receiving treated sewage water.

When not immediately following significant rains, this stretch of the Merrimack watershed that we sample compares really well with lower reaches and other large rivers in the state. This is a great end of season sampling result and you should feel comfortable having fun in the river this weekend.

Thank you to our intrepid and faithful volunteers, our Adopt-a-River Site sponsors, Franklin Waste Water Treatment Plant, and our couriers, this year, Bill Dawson and Anne Emerson.
—

Michele L. Tremblay, UMMP Program Director
and
Steve Landry, Sampling Supervisor
Upper Merrimack Monitoring Program
Upper Merrimack River Local Advisory Committee
http://www.merrimackriver.org/