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We have received questions regarding the current flagging system at King’s Beach.
First, the UV results are off to a good start, but they will certainly vary, which is why we are conducting the pilot. Almost all the days that the UV has been running, the effluent has had almost no bacteria, except for last Saturday, immediately following a sudden rain event. This is one of the learnings we hope to establish during the pilot – under what conditions the UV will or will not be effective.
Second, while the UV pilot appears to be mostly working for Stacey's Brook, beach closures are based on a broader Department of Public Health (DPH) water quality testing protocol that monitors three points along King’s Beach: Eastern Ave, Peirce Road, and Kimball Road.
This protocol, which was adopted within the last couple of years, closes the entire beach if any one of those samples fails. The protocol aims to protect swimmers, but we are still seeing red flags even when the UV system is working as designed. While Stacey's Brook effluent shows almost no bacteria, an errant test result occurred at Kimball Road or Peirce Road. Testing of an outfall in the Kimball Road area on June 28th showed elevated bacteria from that outfall after rain. Daily testing throughout the pilot will demonstrate its full effect, and these results will be accessible on the King's Beach webpage.
Additionally, we have asked DCR to perform additional cleaning on the surrounding catch basins.
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