One of our priorities is to locate and eliminate pollution “hot spots” within the Neponset Watershed. Based off of observations in the field and from data collected from our Citizen Water Monitoring Network, we’ve been able to identify areas throughout the watershed that have suspected contamination from unknown sources.

Using this information, we go into the field and take samples, testing for pollution indicators such as E. coli, nutrients, optical brighteners, and dissolved oxygen. We use this data to alert municipalities of contamination problems so that they can be addressed.

How does the map work?

In the upper left corner, you will see icons which provide features such as a legend, among others. Right below these icons are buttons to zoom in and out of the map, and the home button takes you back to the default view.

Clicking on the legend will show you three different symbol shapes. The circle symbols represent testing that was done on water discharging from outfalls. The square symbols are for samples taken directly from a stream and the diamond symbols are places where we measured dissolved oxygen. The color-coding from green to red indicates areas where the data has come back as clean, suspicious, or problematic.

If you click on a particular point on the map, a pop-up will be displayed that lists the site’s town, stream, and description. It also shows a data table with the data collected for each point so far. You may need to use the scroll bar on the right side of the pop-up to view the data.

We will be updating this map as we collect more hot spot data and would love to hear suggestions on how we can improve it!

Started by a group of generous individual donors in 2015, NepRWA’s Hotspot Program allows us to follow up on problem areas identified through our regular Citizen Water Monitoring Network sampling data and anecdotal reports.

Staff re-visit these sites, collecting numerous samples in the problem area to zero in on specific sources of pollution, such as sewer leaks and other illicit discharges. Once a problem is isolated, we work with local communities to get it fixed. 2016 was a productive year for the Hotspot program with a number of problem discharges located and work underway on getting them resolved.

Click here to read 2016 Hotspot Monitoring Annual Report

For more information, contact NepRWA Field Sampling Coordinator, Meghan Rauber at   meghan@neponset.org or 781-575-0354 x306.