Want to get weekly water quality alerts straight to your phone? Text “SWIM” to 33222!
EN ESPAÑOL
Sound Rivers’ Neuse and Pamlico-Tar Riverkeepers work with interns and volunteers to monitor water quality sites in the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico watersheds. Our sites are sampled weekly from late May through the end of August. Sites are monitored for E. coli bacteria in freshwater and enterococci bacteria in salt water.
As soon as results of our monitoring are available they will be posted to here, can be found at the Swim Guide website, using the smartphone app, on our Facebook page, and will be announced on Public Radio East between 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. each Friday. You can also get weekly alerts during the summer via text (text SWIM to 33222 to join our text alert list).
Current Conditions: July 1, 2022
(A green icon means a site has passed; a red icon means a site has failed; a gray icon means data was not available)
Upper Neuse
Three sites failed in the Upper Neuse this week: Poole Road canoe launch, Clayton River Walk and Neuse Golf Club, also in Clayton.
Lower Neuse
Three sites failed in the Lower Neuse for a second week running: Upper Broad Creek at Black Beard Sailing Club, Lawson Creek Park and Slocum Creek in Havelock.
Tar-Pamlico
All 23 sites on the Tar-Pamlico passed AGAIN this week!
Happy swimming, folks!
Help Monitor Your Watershed!
Want to help monitor sites in the Tar-Pamlico or Neuse River watersheds? We’d love to have your help in checking if our water is safe and clean!
Water Quality Criteria
Sound Rivers uses the North Carolina, and EPA water quality criteria for contact recreation. Sites are marked green when the last sample was at healthy levels of bacteria. Sites are marked red when the last sample was above the criteria, or unhealthy levels of bacteria. Sites are marked grey when there are no current results or there is no available information.
E. coli is a type of bacteria found in the intestines of people and other animals, and is a good indicator of recent fecal contamination. While most types of these bacteria are harmless, some types can make us sick or cause more severe gastrointestinal issues in more sensitive groups.
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries Recreational Water Quality Program does additional testing in the region. Those results are also incorporated into the sites listed on the Swim Guide website and smartphone app.
Thanks so much to our sponsors, who are helping us bring Swim Guide to you summer of 2022!
ECU SECU Public Fellows Internship Foundation
Melinda Vann & David Silberstein
Wendy & Tim Wilson
