Which beaches are closed today? Which local beaches have the safest track record? Click "see test results" for specific beaches in your area.

For your easy viewing, we've combined data for all local Nahant Bay Beaches in this spreadsheet. All data is pulled from the above website.

Knowledge is power. Join the conversation, empower yourself, and take action to Fix the Pipes and restore our beaches, for all.

Combined Sewer Overflows ("CSOs") are happening more and more often during heavy rain events. Get notified via email when and where the CSOs are ejecting sewage into our harbors.

Statewide data for CSOs are located here.

Due to the extremely high pollution coming from the "Marshall St Outfall," Swampscott's newly-create Water and Sewer Infrastructure Advisory Committee has undertaken a more robust testing regimen for Fisherman's Beach. Daily results during swimming season can be found here.

To create greater transparency for Swampscott residents, the Town has created a page that they will provide updates on the Fisherman's Beach sewer rehab project. Stay up-to-date by clicking the link above.

Have you, or your child, or your pet ever gotten ill after going to the beach? Cross-reference this list to see if you may have gotten sick due to bacteria-contaminated water.

Swampscott files a compliance report twice a year in March and September. Stay up to date with what the Town is telling the State we've done and what we'll do next.

Lynn has been under consent decree since 1976. Yes, that's almost 50 years. You can read more about the consent decrees and subsequent "modified" consent decrees by clicking the link above.

Ah, yes, the age old question. The short answer is: it's likely a combination of brown algae trapped by the Nahant causeway and excess nitrogen from the sewage runoff released via Stacey's Brook. 

While local folks and scientists argue about the exact source of the smell, Save King's Beach simply asks: "if we know there's a sewage problem on King's Beach, why don't we just fix the pipes and eliminate that as a potential source of the latrine smell at Stacey's Brook.

According to Mass.gov:

"Swimming in unsafe waters may result in illnesses with the following characteristics:

• Gastrointestinal symptoms - nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain

• Respiratory symptoms - sore throat, cough, runny nose, and sneezing

• Dermatological symptoms - skin rash and itching

• Eye and ear symptoms - irritation, earache, itching

• Flu-like symptoms - fever and chills

Most of these symptoms are minor, but occasionally a more serious illness may occur. Children, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems are at greater risk for illness."

Thankfully, a lot! Lynn, Swampscott, and state and federal partners have been continuously briefed and are engaged in restoring King's Beach to swimmability. Here is a short list of major improvements:

• 2021: Senator Crighton and Representative Ehrlich secured $5M in ARPA funding for King's Beach, split equally between Lynn and Swampscott

• November 2023: Lynn agreed to CCTV it's entire sewer system that runs near Stacey's Brook to identify illicit connections

• April 2024: Swampscott agreed to a 3 phase schedule to fund sewer infrastructure surrounding King's and Fisherman's Beaches

Unfortunately not. Fisherman's Beach has one culvert that has astronomical numbers at the Marshall St culvert. See page 23 of the 9/1/23 Consent Decree report. 

It largely depends on the day! After a rainy day, it's best to avoid ANY local beaches due to old sewer infrastructure and road runoff. 

See all State beach data above under "Beach Water Quality Testing."

There is testing required at each Nahant beach during the beach season, and these locations that are tested are long beach, short beach, black rock/doggie beach, Tudor beach, and 40 steps beach. Check the Water Quality Dashboard for closure information and look for the red flags with NO SWIMMING symbol.

The testing season mandated in Massachusetts is Memorial Day through Labor Day.

In Swampscott beaches, including King's Beach, the water is tested once a week during the season. 

The Lynn side of King's Beach is tested everyday during the season, but it is not tested off season despite surfers, people, and pets using the beach all year round.

Major elected officials in Lynn and Swampscott have run (and were elected!) on a platform supporting cleaning King's Beach. It is critical that we engage with candidates and officials to ensure that our lawmakers are funding fixing our pipes and educating their constituents on the unsanitary conditions at local beaches

We have been disappointed with the involvement from both the Swampscott and the Lynn Boards of Health. We are confused why there isn't information on their websites about the public health hazard at our local beaches.

We sincerely hope that both Boards become more involved so that all residents, regardless of language or origin, are fully educated on the risks associated with swimming at contaminated beaches.

Illicit Sewer Discharge Detection and Elimination (IDDE) programs are put in place to progressively eliminate illicit connections or flows into the municipal stormwater system (aka stop mixing the poop water with the water that falls from the sky and runs directly into the ocean).  Both Lynn and Swampscott have EPA mandated IDDE programs in place that they should be following. 

Via Lynn Water & Sewer: Combined sewer systems are sewers that are designed to collect rainwater runoff, domestic sewage, and industrial wastewater in the same pipe. Combined sewer systems are quite common in older cities such as Lynn. Most of the time, Lynn's combined sewer systems transport all of their wastewater to the Lynn Wastewater Treatment Plant, where it is treated and then discharged to Broad Sound. During periods of heavy rainfall or snowmelt, however, the wastewater volume in the combined sewer system can exceed the capacity of the sewer system or treatment plant. For this reason, combined sewer systems are designed to overflow occasionally and discharge excess wastewater directly to nearby streams, rivers, or other water bodies. Without overflow structures, this mix would back up into homes, businesses, and public streets.

These overflows, called combined sewer overflows (CSOs), contain not only stormwater but also untreated human and industrial waste, toxic materials, and debris. Flows from CSOs can compromise a water body's uses and lead to water quality violations in the receiving waters.

It is strongly recommended that you avoid contact with receiving waters during and shortly after heavy rains.

Municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) are what handle storm water runoff and guide it into the ocean through outfall pipes which you can see extending onto our beaches.  Unlike CSOs, they are intended to never be combined with sewage or any other wastewater requiring treatment.  

Because Swampscott sends its waste water to Lynn for treatment, the town only maintains MS4s and does not have any CSOs.  

In the context of environmental law, a consent decree states that the EPA has sued a municipality for pollution and the document outlines the agreement between the municipality and the EPA for how/when to clean up the pollution. Sometimes there is also an imposed fine along side execution of the consent decree.