by LRWP Monitoring Outreach Coordinator Danielle Bongiovanni, J.M. Meyer, Jocelyn Palomino

Yesterday, Thursday May 22, was the official start-up of our Pathogens Monitoring 2025 Season! The Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership and Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Middlesex County are so grateful to be able to continue the monitoring program into our now SEVENTH year of data-collection and sharing. This volunteer-based program runs from May to October and takes place every Thursday monitoring along the Raritan River. We collect water quality samples at SIX non-bathing public access beach sites, provide our samples to the Interstate Environmental Commission for analysis in their laboratory, and report the results to the public on Friday afternoons. We are looking forward to sharing our data with the community and our partners to ensure the safe use of the Raritan River for all.

Our lab results for water quality samples taken on Thursday May 22, 2025 show Enterococcus bacteria levels exceeding the EPA federal water quality standard of 104 cfu/100mL at all six of our monitoring sites this week. Problem sites are indicated by red frowns on the map and chart which includes: Riverside Park (Piscataway), Rutgers Boat House (New Brunswick), Edison Boat Basin (Edison), Ken Buchanan Waterfront Park (Sayreville), South Amboy Waterfront Park (South Amboy), and 2nd Street Park (Perth Amboy). Green smiles on the chart and map indicate the sites with bacteria levels safe for recreation, and do not include any sites this week.

Pathogens/Enterococci levels are used as indicators of the possible presence of disease-causing bacteria in recreational waters. Such pathogens may pose health risks to people coming in primary contact with the water (touching) through recreational activities like fishing, kayaking or swimming in a water body. Possible sources of bacteria include Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs), improperly functioning wastewater treatment plants, stormwater runoff, leaking septic systems, animal carcasses, and runoff from manure storage areas.

Our goal in reporting these results is to give residents a better understanding of the potential health risks related to primary contact during water-based recreation. If you are planning on recreating on the Raritan this Memorial Day weekend, make sure to stay safe and wash up after any activities!

This pipe drains into the Raritan River directly from the Route 18 highway at Boyd Park. Hence, the oil sheen is essentially direct wash off from vehicles traveling on 18 parallel to the Raritan River.
Photo credit: Art Allgauer.

John and Ashley drop the YSI sonde into the Raritan River at the Edison Boat Basin while Sofi collects a water sample. Photo credit: Danielle Bongiovanni.