July 2019 News Archive

 

Catching up on recent Beach Watch results: so far this summer, all Save The River sites that have submitted samples have passed! Read below for specific results for each week.

Week 3 Beach Watch results from samples taken on Monday, July 15, 2019 showed that the seven locations that submitted samples all passed: Potters Beach had an E. coli bacteria colony level of 2.0 per 100 milliliter (ml), Lake of the Isles and Round Island both had a level of 3.0 per100 ml, Wilson Bay at 6’ depth had a level of 3.1 per 100 ml, Frink Park had a level of 4.1 per 100 ml, Wilson Bay at 3’ depth had a level of 7.4 per 100 ml, and Scenic View Park had a level of 186.0 E. coli bacteria colonies per 100 ml. A new sample site was added in Week 3: The Cove at Thousand Island Park was tested and showed an E. coli bacteria colony level of 14.8 per 100 ml. All of these levels, including Scenic View Park, are below the New York State Health Department limit of 235 colonies of E. coli bacteria per a 100 ml sample of swimming water.

Week 4 Beach Watch results from samples taken on Monday, July 22, 2019 showed that the six locations that submitted samples all passed: Lake of the Isles and Frink Park both had an E. coli bacteria colony level of less than 1.0 per 100 ml sample of swimming water, Potters Beach had an E. coli bacteria colony level of 1.0 per 100 milliliters (ml), The Cove at Thousand Island Park showed an E. coli bacteria colony level of 6.2 per 100 ml, Wilson Bay at 6’ depth had an E.coli bacteria colony level of 9.6 per 100 ml, and Scenic View Park had a level of 14.6 E. coli bacteria colonies per 100 ml. Round Island did not have a sample submitted in Week 4 but did have a sample taken for Week 5 (July 29); results will be available on Save The River’s social media later this week.

The Week 5 Beach Watch results from samples taken on Monday, July 29, 2019 showed that the seven locations that submitted samples all passed: Frink Park, Round Island, and Lake of the Isles all had a level of 1.0 E. coli bacteria colony per 100 milliliters (ml) sample of swimming water, Scenic View Park had a level of 7.3 E. coli bacteria colonies per 100 ml, The Cove at Thousand Island Park showed an E. coli bacteria colony level of 8.5 per 100 ml, Wilson Bay at 3’ depth had a level of 9.8 E. coli bacteria colonies per 100 ml, Wilson Bay at 6’ depth had an E.coli bacteria colony level of 10.9 per 100 ml, and Potters Beach had an E. coli bacteria colony level of 20.1 per 100 ml sample of swimming water. All of these levels are well below the New York State Health Department limit of 235 colonies of E. coli bacteria per 100 ml sample of swimming water.

Congratulations to everyone who participated in Save The River’s 17^th Annual Run for the River™ 5K/10K! Thank you to all of our sponsors for their support and thank you to our many amazing volunteers including the Clayton Police, Fire Police, and Thousand Islands Emergency Rescue Services.

Save the date for next year: July 25, 2020

Click here for the complete 5K results

Click here for the complete 10K results

 

5K Award Results

Top 3 overall female 5K runner:

1. Alexa Doe (18:32)
2. Melissa Roberts (18:58)
3. Whitney Bryant (20:08)

Top 3 overall male 5K runners:

1. Steven Doe (18:22)
2. Daniel Snow (18:27)
3. Elias Rupp (19:19)

 

Top 5K finishers by age groups:

Male 13 and under – Owen Dougherty (22:08)

Female 13 and under – Ella Mulholland (26:17)

Male 14-19 – Luke Riddoch (20:00)

Female 14-19 – Grace Van Vessem (21:08)

Male 20-29 – Matty McAndrew (19:50)

Female 20-29 – Nola Pominville (20:40)

Male 30-39 – Jeff Hettrick (22:52)

Female 30-39 – Constance Hammaker (21:18)

Male 40-49 – Eric Lamphier (23:18)

Female 40-49 – Caryn Lamphier (21:07)

Male 50-59 – Michael Dougherty (24:59)

Female 50-59 – Denise Vinal (25:38)

Male 60-69 – Paul Preston (24:22)

Female 60-69 – Debra Whiting (24:43)

Male 70+ – Chuck Spaulding (25:36)

Female 70+ – Karen Wilkinson (47:49)

 

10K Award Results

Top 3 overall female 10K runner:

1. Roxanne Marmion (45:36)
2. Anne Reilly (45:57)
3. Kelsey Yam (47:08)

Top 3 overall male 10K runners:

1. Jason McElwain (37:31)
2. Kyle Clark (39:58)
3. Steven Longden (43:28)

 

Top 10K finishers by age groups:

Male 13 and under – No entrants

Female 13 and under – No entrants

Male 14-19 – Elliott Iosilvich (50:11)

Female 14-19 – No entrants

Male 20-29 – Jehoshaphat Collins (48:09)

Female 20-29 – Haley Stark (54:52)

Male 30-39 – Justin Crossway (46:51)

Female 30-39 – Ashley Yaiser (49:17)

Male 40-49 – Brian Jones (55:12)

Female 40-49 – Christina O’Riley (56:58)

Male 50-59 – Charles Flynn (44:24)

Female 50-59 – Mary Eckstein (54:26)

Male 60-69 – Mike Halloran (50:33)

Female 60-69 – Nancy Werthmuller (59:06)

Male 70+ – No entrants

Female 70+ – No entrants

The Week 2 Beach Watch results from July 8, 2019 showed that the five locations that submitted samples all passed: Frink Park, Lake of the Isles, and Wilson Bay at 3’ depth all had E. coli bacteria colony levels of less than 1.0 per 100 milliliters (ml), Round Island had a level of 1.0 per 100 ml, Wilson Bay at 6’ depth had a level of 2.0 per 100 ml, and Scenic View Park had a level of 6.3 bacteria colonies per 100 ml. All of these levels are well below the New York State Health Department limit of 235 colonies of E. coli bacteria per 100 ml, making all of these locations safe for swimming. A sample from Potters Beach was not taken on Week 1 and Week 2 due to a lack of volunteer availability, however, a sample has been taken for Week 3 (July 15) and results will be available later this week.

Save The River’s Beach Watch program aims to test the water quality of six local beaches and popular swimming destinations to ensure a safe swimming environment. Water quality is monitored by testing the levels of E. coli bacteria, which in high amounts can cause illness. E. coli is a common indicator used for testing of fecal contamination in waterways and is the recommended indicator in fresh waterways. Results are expressed in the number of bacteria colonies found in a 100 milliliter (ml) sample of swimming water. The New York State Health Department has set a swimming water quality limit of 235 colonies of E. coli bacteria per 100 milliliters of water for a one-time sample and 126 colonies for an average result over five weeks.

With the help of volunteers, six swimming locations are tested every Monday for nine weeks from July 1 through August 26. The six testing sites are Frink Park in downtown Clayton, Scenic View Park in Alexandria Bay, Lake of the Isles on Wellesley Island, Wilson’s Beach in Cape Vincent, Round Island in Clayton, and Potters Beach on Grindstone Island. Weekly monitoring results are posted on Save The River’s social media, at their 409 Riverside Drive, Clayton storefront, and on the Swim Guide mobile app and website (theswimguide.org). This year the Beach Watch program is managed by summer intern, Molly Russell.

If a New York State swimming beach fails a water quality sample, the beach will close until it passes a resample test. However, Save The River monitors the Beach Watch program on a volunteer basis and has no authority to close the swimming areas we sample. The results are used to highlight areas of concern and inform landowners and stakeholders of potential health risks. When there is a situation of high bacteria, Save The River submits those results to local and state authorities for their use and action.

Save The River’s Beach Watch program aims to test the water quality of six local beaches and popular swimming destinations to ensure a safe swimming environment. We do this by testing the levels of E. coli bacteria, which in high amounts can cause illness. E. coli is a common indicator used for testing of fecal contamination in waterways and is the recommended indicator in fresh waterways. Results are expressed in the number of bacteria colonies found in a 100 milliliter (ml) sample of swimming water. The New York State Health Department has set a swimming water quality limit of 235 colonies of E. coli bacteria per 100 milliliters of water for a one time sample and 126 colonies for an average result over five weeks.