Bathers and surfers can now check the Blue Water Task Force web app for water quality readings before heading to their favorite Monmouth County beaches. Samples are gathered at local beaches every Thursday by Surfrider Foundation volunteers and lab tested by researchers at Monmouth University, with results typically posted after 10 a.m. on Fridays.
Users can click the points on the map for pop-ups reporting whether enterococcus bacteria levels were low, moderate, or high according to New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) standards. Beachgoers may also visit NJBeaches.org for the results of NJDEP testing conducted on Mondays.
Monmouth recently became New Jersey’s first partner in Surfrider’s Blue Water Task Force, a nationwide network dedicated to monitoring water quality at public beaches year-round. Through the agreement, Monmouth has filled an important gap in the Task Force’s East Coast coverage and augmented the state’s ocean quality monitoring efforts, which are limited only to the summer season.
To learn how you can become involved, email the Surfrider Foundation Jersey Shore Chapter at bwtf@jerseyshore.surfrider.org.