Bacteria days are here again: results for June 15, 2017
Dear River and Watershed Friends,
Good news: on our very first day of the season we not only had 100% sampling at 100% of our sites but the E. coli bacteria readings from yesterday are very low.
None of the eleven samples taken yesterday, June 15, 2017, from the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee Rivers in Franklin to the the mainstem Merrimack in Bow had levels exceeding 46.4 colonies of E. coli bacteria for every 100 millilitres of water. That’s great news for your weekend because designated swim beaches are not allowed to exceed 88 colonies and Class B waters (all of our sites are Class B waters) should be below 406 colonies. Here are the details.
Site number and description | |
1 Pemigewasset | 29.2 |
2 Winnipesaukee | 23.1 |
3 Merrimack above FWWT Plant | 21.6 |
4 Merrimack below FWWT Plant | 46.4 |
5 Merrimack Jamie Welch Park | 21.1 |
6 Merrimack Route 4 Bypass | 28.8 |
7 Contoocook at Rivco | 20.1 |
8 Merrimack Sewalls Falls | 26.2 |
9 Merrimack Manchester St | 18.9 |
10 Merrimack Blue Seal | 21.8 |
11 Merrimack Garvins Falls | 13.1 |
If you are interested, here are the flows from yesterday juxtaposed with summer median flows for the four larger rivers on which we take water samples (cfs = cubic feet per second).
Winnipesaukee River
- UMMP sample day = 1290 cfs
- Summer median = 518 cfs
Pemigewasset River
- UMMP sample day = 679
- Summer median = 740
Contoocook River
- UMMP sample day = 509 cfs
- Summer median = 565 cfs
Merrimack River
- UMMP sample day = 2710 cfs
- Summer median = 1970 cfs
The flows for some of our rivers are pretty high with others approaching their summer norms or are below them. How does that affect water quality? The old saying is, “Dilution is the solution to pollution.” If we had taken these samples right after a big rain storm, we might be saying “When it rains; it’s poor.” That is because right after a large rain, nutrients including runoff from failed septic systems, wildlife, and pet waste, flow right into brooks and rivers.
Our next sampling day is Thursday, June 29, 2017 so you will hear from us on June 30.
Thank you to our wonderful Adopt-a-River Site sponsors, sample courier, site volunteers, Adopt-a-River Site sponsors, and the crew at Franklin Waste Water Treatment Plant. There would be no Upper Merrimack Monitoring Program without them.
Please visit our fresh and newly designed forum at MerrimackRiver.org/forum.
You can also find us at MerrimackRiver.org for further information or don’t hesitate to contact us at UMMP@MerrimackRiver.org or 603.796.2615 should you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Michele L Tremblay Stephen C. Landry
Program Manager Sampling Supervisor