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Date: 8/24/2022
SOUTHWICK – The Southwick Town Beach at South Pond will remain closed for the rest of the year due to a combination of the high E. coli levels in the water and the approaching school year.
The Southwick Health Department said that the most recent tests of E. coli in South Pond this week found levels still too high to reopen the beach. The beach has been closed since Aug. 4, when Health Director Alex White conducted tests that returned with levels at 407 bacterial cultures per 100 ml of water. The legal limit for wading beaches in Massachusetts is 235.
Lake Management Committee Chair Dick Grannells said that a Code Red alert went out to Southwick residents declaring that the beach would not reopen for the rest of the season.
The Health Department said that the levels of E. coli were still too high, and Grannells said that the approaching school year meant that many of the summer staff for the beach would soon be unavailable for work, which typically is when the beach closes each year.
High E. coli levels were found in other parts of South Pond, White said, which resulted in an advisory for the entire section of Congamond Lake. North Pond and Middle Pond were not found to have an E. coli outbreak.
White has said that the low water levels and high heat have made South Pond a perfect breeding ground for E. coli bacteria, especially in comparison with the deeper Middle and North ponds.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, symptoms of an E. coli infection can include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting, and most people who get sick become so three to four days after ingesting the bacteria. An E. coli infection can be fatal if not treated properly.