Preliminary results for E. Coli testing Summer 2005

The following data is provided in order to give people in the watershed information to help them decide if they want to swim in the river. The US EPA water quality standards for swimming areas state that E. Coli levels should not exceed 235 E. Coli/100ml of water in a single sample. Vermont E. Coli standards are far more strict than the US EPA recommendations. They recommend 77 E. Coli/100ml of water (single sample) as the upper limit for swimming areas.

The samples collected in 2005, again showed that while total phosphorus and sediments (measured by turbidity) are low throughout the sample area, E. Coli levels are relatively high. Many of the sites exceeded the USEPA and VT DEC water quality standards for E. Coli at some point this summer.