BOSTON — Water quality at some Boston-area beaches has declined over the past year after a deluge of rainbut an environmental group says local swimming spots can still claim to be ‘the cleanest city beaches in the country’.
Save The Harbor/Save The Bay released its Metropolitan Beaches Water Quality Report Card on Monday. It says the overall water quality safety score for Boston Harbor beaches is 85%, down from last year’s 93% after “the rainiest summer in the Boston area since 1955.”
Safety ratings for beaches in the Boston area
According to the report, South Boston’s Pleasure Bay, City Point and M Street beaches all received a 100% safety rating in 2023. The others who scored above 88% were Revere Beach, Carson Beach, Nantasket Beach in Hull, Constitution Beach and Wollaston Beach in Quincy.
Save the harbor/save the bay
Two of Dorchester’s beaches, Malibu and Tenean, were near the bottom with figures of 76% and 73% respectively. But the “outlier” of the group is King’s Beach in Lynn with a rating of 55% – the lowest figure in at least five years.
“King’s Beach is an outlier in the Boston area,” Chris Mancini, director of Save the Harbor, said in a statement. “It is a difficult and complex infrastructure challenge that has required dozens of meetings between stakeholders at every level of community and government. We are fortunate to have such a dedicated, collaborative group from Lynn, Swampscott, state and federal focused on I’m trying to change this beach.”
Excessive bacteria can close beaches
Beginning of June nearly 20 beaches in Massachusetts, including Wollaston, were closed due to ‘bacterial overshoot’. Rainwater runoff and sewer overflows after heavy rainfall are the two main causes of excessive bacteria in the water.
“Until technology can catch up, our best advice is to follow the 24-hour rule and simply wait a day after a significant rainfall before heading back to the water,” Mancini said. “Except in South Boston, where you can swim every day of the year.”
