Bacterial water monitoring of recreational swim beaches: Acadia National Park
Breen RM. 1995. Bacterial water monitoring of recreational swim beaches: Acadia National Park. Acadia National Park Natural Resources Report 95-02. Acadia National Park
From the executive summary: "In 1994 Acadia National Park (ANP) resource management staff conducted bacterial water sampling at several recreational swim beaches within the park. The purpose of the sampling was to provide information to park managers on the potential health risk to park visitors from water-borne pathogens. Freshwater swimming areas sampled included the ANP guarded beach at Echo Lake and at the unguarded beach at Lakewood. Sampling was also conducted in marine waters at the guarded swim beach at Sand Beach and in the brackish wading lagoon at the east end of Sand Beach. Sample analysis was performed by the Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory, Maine Department of Human Services (MDHS). Freshwater samples were analyzed for Escherichia coli, marine and estuarine waters for enterococci bacteria. Sampling was conducted weekly from mid-June to mid-September. ANP began sampling for bacterial contamination at several swim beaches on Mount Desert Island (MDI) in 1993 on a bi-weekly basis. The National Park Service (NPS) currently does not require monitoring for bacterial contamination at swim beaches, however several NPS areas e.g. Assateague Island National Seashore, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area do have monitoring programs to determine bacterial water quality at public swim beaches. Bacterial levels at Echo Lake, Lakewood, and Sand Beach were well within MDHS and United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines throughout the sampling season. Bacteria densities at Sand Beach lagoon exceeded MDHS and EPA criteria for single samples on August 22, and September 6, but in both instances returned to acceptable levels the following week. Soaking rains of one inch or more occurred within 24 hours preceding the August 22 and September 6 sampling periods. Continued monitoring of bacterial densities at selected park beaches is recommended to provide a larger dataset to better understand the range of bacterial densities and long-term trends."
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Breen, Robert
- Date of Issue
- 1995-05
- Units
- ACAD
- Keywords
- Bacteria, Echo Lake, enterococci (bacteria), Escherichia coli (Bacteria), Lake Wood, Mount Desert Island, Recreation, Sand Beach, Visitors, Water Quality