Improving Water Quality in the Short Beach Neighborhood of Branford, Connecticut, 2019-A Citizen Science Project.

We initiated a collaboration between local government, academia, and citizen scientists to investigate high frequencies of elevated bacteria levels in the coastal Short Beach neighborhood of Branford, Connecticut. Citizen scientist involvement enabled collection of short-duration postprecipitation outfall flow water samples (mean level = 4930 most probable number per 100 mL) and yielded insights into scientific collaboration with local residents. A records review and sanitary questionnaire identified aging properties with septic systems (3.3%) and holding tanks (0.6%) as potential sources of the contamination. (. 2022;112(9):1261-1264. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.306943).