Ten beaches on bays and rivers at the Jersey Shore are under water advisories after tests showed high levels of the Enterococcus bacteria.
The advisories were posted Thursday by the state Department of Environmental Protection, the results of testing under the Environmental Coastal Monitoring Program.
The testing is conducted at sites where there is "primary recreation," but are not regulated public recreational bathing beaches, the NJDEP says.
The Environmental Coastal Monitoring assesses water quality at various areas of known primary recreation and provides public notification of the results.
They only issue advisories when the water exceeds 104 colonies of Enterococci per 100 milliliters of water.
"Water quality advisories warn the public of potentially unhealthy water conditions," the NJDEP said. "The advisory is lifted after additional sampling is conducted and the water quality results are again within the standard."
The following sites were under water quality advisories as of Thursday:
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Toms River, NJ Patch
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