Swimming Advisories Lifted For 2 River Beaches In Point Pleasant

POINT PLEASANT, NJ — Swimming advisories have been lifted for two river beaches in Point Pleasant on Wednesday, after a second round of tests found the bacteria counts at acceptable levels, according to state officials.

The state Department of Environmental Protection removed the advisory tags for the River Avenue Beach and Maxson Avenue Beach, both on the Manasquan River, according to njbeaches.org, where the state publishes beach closure information.

Those beaches were among 13 that showed high levels of Enterococci bacteria in water testing performed Monday at the sites, the NJDEP said. The sites all exceeded 104 colonies per 100 milliliters of water, the standard used for determining swimming safety.

When a Monday water test shows levels exceeding 104 colonies, the state conducts a second round of tests on Tuesday to see if the high levels are persisting. The retests are taken at two sampling sites at each affected beach, with the results available Wednesday morning.

If levels remain high after Tuesday's tests, the beaches are closed to swimming and the water tested again. Retesting continues until bacteria levels fall below 104 colonies per 100ml.

Here are the bacteria test results for each site:

River Avenue Beach (Point Pleasant): Monday, 180; Tuesday, 40 (20 and 20). River Avenue Beach has not had a closure since 2012.

Maxson Avenue Beach (Point Pleasant): Monday, 210; Tuesday, 30 (60 and 20). Maxson Avenue Beach has not had a closure since 2011.