Friends of the Bay received a Quality Assurance Project Plan from the Environmental Protection Agency in April of 2006 and was later updated in June 2020. Friends of the Bay has a long-standing water quality monitoring program which began in the late 1990s. Data from 2005 and earlier is available upon request.
Pathogen Monitoring
At Friends of the Bay, we measure the number of coliform bacteria and enterococci around Oyster Bay’s waters. Coliform bacteria are an accumulation of different bacteria species, including both fecal and non-fecal bacteria. The fecal coliform bacteria are found in the intestines of warm-blooded animals, some fecal coliform species are disease-causing. When fecal coliform is present in water bodies it indicates possible contamination from human or animal fecal matter. Enterococci are a different type of fecal bacteria found in warm-blooded animal intestines. They are a subgroup of fecal streptococcus that can live in salt water. Enterococci is an indicator organism at shellfish harvesting areas and coastal beaches. We use both types of bacteria as water quality indicators. Their presence shows the likelihood of contracting a disease from the water such as typhoid, dysentery, and cholera.
Use this map to navigate the pathogen results given below
Bacteria Monitoring Levels in 2022 at Friends of the Bay's 8 Sampling Stations
Data archives can be found at the bottom of this page
Water Quality Monitoring Data Sheet – This is the sheet used by Friends of the Bay water quality monitors. Use this sheet to interpret the ambient readings recorded for wind, weather, tide, etc.