In June 2023, we launched our Water Watchdog Weekly Bacteria Monitoring Program for the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed. The purpose of this program is to inform people when popular public river/creek accesses are safe for recreating, or not.

 

Although we hope that water quality is safe all the time, that’s simply not the case especially during weather events when bacteria may enter streams and rivers through sewage overflows, improper treatment of waste, runoff of animal waste, and other ways. We measure E. coli counts using the IDEXX colilert 18 method.

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During the recreational season Memorial Day through Labor Day, we conduct weekly monitoring. Every Thursday our team collect samples at 15 sites throughout the watershed. We post results every Friday on this webpage, our Facebook & Instagram pages and on the SwimGuide App.