TESTING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A FABRIC BOOM IN IMPROVING WATER-QUALITYAT A BATHING BEACH

In the spring and summer of 1992, the Village of Mamaroneck (located i n Westchester County, New York), seeking to determine if it might impr ove the bacteriologic quality of its bathing beach water, installed a fabric boom in its Mamaroneck Harbor beach in Long Island Sound. This article presents analyses conducted by the Westchester County Departme nt of Health (WCDH) to study the boom's effectiveness in decreasing th e number of enteric microorganisms entering the enclosed beach waters. The WCDH sought to examine the boom's effectiveness as measured by to tal and fecal coliform bacteria inside and outside the boom. Chlorides were also measured to determine the level of salinity within and with out the boom, and thereby to evaluate the flow of water through the bo om. The results of this study suggest that the boom was a factor in re ducing total and fecal coliform bacteria during the 1992 bathing seaso n. The logarithmic mean for total coliform for all of the samples from within the boom was 62% less for the water samples inside the boom ve rsus the outside waters.