Swim advisory lifted: But what’s behind high fecal counts at North Hampton, Rye beaches?

NORTH HAMPTON – North Hampton and Rye beachgoers are being advised they can swim again without worry, now that the state Department of Environmental Services' most recent tests indicate safe bacteria counts.

Three days of taking and testing water samples last week at both North Hampton State Beach and Wallis Sands Beach at Wallis Road (Pirates Cove) showed levels of fecal coliform bacteria in the waters at the beaches had risen to above the acceptable standard. As a result, NHDES officials issued advisories, posting signs at the related beaches informing swimmers the water was “not suitable for wading or swimming.” 

However, new beach water samples were taken Aug. 2, according to David Neils, NHDES chief aquatic biologist. When the tests results came in on Aug. 3, Neils learned bacteria counts dropped significantly at both beaches, allowing the advisories to be lifted and swimmers to return.

Previous story:High fecal counts at North Hampton, Wallis Sands beaches

According to Neils, DES staff members collect and test samples of water along the Seacoast twice each week. When they did so last week, the results indicated that bacteria levels were about twice the state’s standard criteria of 104 counts per 100 milliliters. That’s when the advisories were announced, he said, and signs posted to alert swimmers to the problem that can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and fever, especially in exposed children, the elderly and those with sensitive immune systems.

“We didn’t shut down the beaches because (DES doesn’t) have the authority to shut down beaches,” Neils explained.

When problems of this nature are discovered, Neils said, DES tells the entity that owns the property in question. In North Hampton’s case, the beach is owned by the state itself. 

Neils learned from the Seacoastonline article of Select Board Member Jim Maggiore’s dismay that DES didn’t alert town officials to the problem as well. As a result, Neils called Maggiore Tuesday morning to ask for a local contact for the state agency to call should the problem arise again.

Sources of the problem

According to Neils, the rise in fecal bacteria count at the two beaches has happened in the past. DES workers take a number of samples at each bi-weekly visit, from various areas of the beaches to ensure a comprehensive testing sample, he said.

Fecal coliform bacteria comes from bacteria found in human, wildlife and even livestock excrement, he said, and its presence in a water source indicates contamination – temporary or continual – by the fecal matter infiltrating the water from either humans or other warm-blooded animals.

In North Hampton, Neils said, the beach problem starts with fecal bacteria from Little River, which flows into the saltmarsh. The Little River and saltmarsh wetlands are a habitat for numerous types of warm-blooded animals, he said, ducks, geese, deer, beaver, etc., who defecate there as part of natural behavior. The wetlands act as a filter, he said, but weather is a factor.

“When we get large rainfall, it flushes the saltmarsh,” Neils said. “That can cause the bacteria levels to rise.”

This July was a very rainy month, he said, with periods of heavy rains that may have had an impact on last week’s bacteria counts.

Neils said over recent years both DES and the town have sought to trace the ultimate source of the problem.      

When the bacteria can be traced to human waste – such as from failing septic systems – solutions are possible for systems can be repaired, which has happened in North Hampton. The same isn’t so if traced to wildlife.

Adding to the problem is that determining if the bacteria in the DES’s beach water samples is from humans, wildlife or livestock is very tricky, he said, even with the help of DNA tracking at UNH labs.

“We haven’t had super success in determining if the bacteria is from humans or other animals,” Neils said.