Bathing Water Quality

Bathing or swimming shall not be permitted in any bathing water where the quality of the water does not meet the standards established in 105 CMR 445.030(A), 445.030(B), or 445.030(C), and no bathing or swimming shall be allowed when the bathing water is determined by the Board of Health or the Department to be unfit or so subject to contamination as to constitute a menace to health. Bathing or swimming shall not be permitted in bathing waters when: 445.030: continued (A) Physical Quality. (1) Sludge deposits, solid refuse, floating waste solids, oils, grease or scum are present; or (2) There are safety hazards including, but not limited to, fast currents, sharp drop-offs or an unstable bottom in the wading area(s), or lack of water clarity. (B) Bacteriological Quality. (1) The results of a sanitary survey or other information indicates that sewage or other hazardous substances may be discharged into the bathing water to a degree considered by the Board of Health or the Department to be of public health significance; or (2) Epidemiological evidence discloses the prevalence of an infectious disease or other health condition which is considered to be related to the use of the bathing water and is considered by the Board of Health or the Department to be of public health significance; or (3) The bacteriological quality of the bathing water is unacceptable based on the standards specified in 105 CMR 445.031 and the following criteria: (a) two samples of bathing water, collected on two consecutive days, that both exceed the single sample water quality standard, or one sample of bathing water that exceeds the single sample water quality standard when an additional sample is not collected on the following day; or (b) one sample of bathing water that exceeds the single sample standard at beaches where, in two or more of the last four full beach seasons, samples collected on two consecutive days both exceeded the single sample water quality standard; or (c) any bathing water sample that exceeds the geomean water quality standard. (C) Oil, Hazardous Materials, or Heavy Metals. Oil, hazardous materials, or heavy metals are present in excess of surface water quality standards or guidelines established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency or the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.