22-06-2025
11 North Carolina river sites fail fecal bacteria testing this week, group says
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — More than 10 North Carolina river sites failed water-quality testing for the week — with one spot in Raleigh among those that didn't meet standards for E. coli bacteria, according to Sound Rivers.
During the summer months, the group checks dozens of sites along rivers in the state from the Raleigh-Durham area all the way to the North Carolina coast.
'We've had a lot of heavy rain lately, so that stormwater runoff can put a lot of bacteria in our waterways,' Clay Barber, Sound Rivers' program director, said in a news release.
This week, two sites in the Raleigh area failed the tests. One site was the Poole Road Canoe Launch, located on the Neuse River at 1721 Riverview Road in southeast Raleigh.
The other site along the Upper Neuse River that failed was the Clayton River Walk, at 2671 Covered Bridge Road, just south of Clayton, Sound Rivers reported. The Clayton River Walk meets water quality standards less than 60 percent of the time.
Volunteers with Sound Rivers gather water samples from about 50 popular recreation sites weekly, with pass/fail results released to the public in their Swim Guide, providing an easy way to find out where it's safe to swim.
The Neuse (upper and lower) and Tar-Pamlico watersheds cover nearly a quarter of North Carolina, the group says.
Along the Lower Neuse portion, four sites failed testing, which means there were elevated levels of fecal bacteria, which brings an increased risk of gastrointestinal illness, the group reported.
Sound Rivers reported the sites that failed were: Maple Cypress Boat Ramp southeast of Grifton, Cow Pen Landing south of Vanceboro, Spring Garden near New Bern and Slocum Creek in Havelock.
Closer to the coast, in the Tar-Pamlico watershed, five sites failed, Sound Rivers reported: Port Terminal just outside Greenville, Yankee Hall Road in Pactolus, the Washington Waterfront, Havens Gardens in Washington, and Pamlico Plantation along Broad Creek near the Pamlico River.
In areas of salt water, Sound Rivers checks for enterococci to determine if a river site is safe for their Swim Guide.
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