An annual report card on water quality at beaches in Greater Boston— based on testing done last summer— brought familiar results for Dot’s three beaches. Tenean Beach, which has long lagged behind other nearby locations for a variety of reasons, remains at the bottom of the 15-beach list.

In 2018, the overall water quality safety rating for Boston Harbor’s regional beaches was 95 percent, a slight improvement over the previous year’s score of 94 percent.

Water quality was tested for bacterial levels by the advocacy group Save the Harbor/Save the Bay from May to Labor Day in 2018.
M Street Beach in South Boston continues to have the best test score of the group— 100 percent.

The six-year average for Dorchester’s three beaches— Savin Hill, Malibu, and Tenean— are 96, 89, and 80 percent “good quality”- respectively.
“It is important to note that the Boston Water and Sewer Commission continues to identify and address illicit connections that contribute to the problems at Tenean Beach in Dorchester,” said Bruce Berman of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay.

Berman added: “Changes in the intensity and frequency of summer storms often explains the variations we see on our beaches from year to year. These seasonal variations are why Save the Harbor/Save the Bay is reluctant to draw conclusions from a single year’s sampling results, preferring to rely on the six-year average we have included in this report.”