How is the water quality at Quincy and Hull beaches? Do you worry about the bacteria?

Nantasket Beach in Hull and Wollaston Beach in Quincy are among 15 metro and greater Boston beaches whose overall water safety scores are included in Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s 2023 Beach Season Water Quality Report Card.

The overall findings, with a few notable exceptions, was that while Jaws-phobia may keep some from wading into the water, the quality of the water itself should not.

Record rain did not lead to record low scores overall at Massachusetts beaches

This report card uses data from the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation to survey the water quality of each of the region’s public beaches in Quincy, Hull, Lynn, Nahant, Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South Boston, and Dorchester.

Last year was the rainiest summer in the Boston area since 1955, officials said during the Monday press conference  at Revere Beach, which has a 2023 score of 89%.

“In urban infrastructure, an inch of rain can quickly flush out bacteria that builds up in drains and stormwater pipes from people, animals and other sources,” said Save the Harbor Deputy Director Kristen Barry. “That bacteria are the main public health concern.”

Despite the nearly 70-year rainfall high, nine area beaches, including Nantasket and Wollaston, scored 88% or better. All the beaches combined had an average 2023 score of 85%.

“We’re committed to ensuring our beaches are safe, clean and swimmable spaces for our families and residents cool down at, and despite last year’s record rainfall, our Metro Boston beaches continue to be some of the cleanest in the country,” said Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Brian Arrigo.

Not all the beaches fared so well, though, as King’s Beach in Lynn came in with a 2023 score of 55%, making it the lowest score for the beach in the last six years, as well as the lowest score on the entire list.

“King’s Beach is an outlier in the Boston area,” said Save the Harbor Executive Director Chris Mancini. “It’s a difficult and complex infrastructure challenge that has required dozens of meetings between stakeholders at every level of community and government.”

How is the water quality at Nantasket and Wollaston?

The report offered each beach’s score for a six-year period from 2018 to 2023. It also provided an average score for the covered period. The average score of all the beaches in that timeframe is 90%.

Nantasket’s average score is 98%, with a 2023 score also of 98%. It received 100% scores in 2018 and 2021. The other years ranged from 94% to 98%.

Wollaston has an average score of 87% and an 88% score for both 2023 and 2022. Its lowest score was 82% in 2021 and its highest 93% in 2018.

State admits daily water posting system is flawed, offers guidance

Currently the beaches use a posting and flagging system to alert the public to high bacteria levels. Officials, however, said the technology currently available takes 24 hours to return results, meaning by the time the posting goes up, the information is already out of date.

Daily results are posted at 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on the Mass.gov website. As of Tuesday afternoon, Houghton Pond in Milton was among the water bodies closed due to high bacteria levels.

“Until technology can catch up, our best advice is to follow the 24-hour rule and simply wait a day after a significant rainfall before returning to water,” said Save the Harbor’s Mancini. “In the meantime, the report card has been a great tool to show the great overall quality of our urban beaches. We hope it will give people the confidence to get out and enjoy our spectacular state beaches.”

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Is it safe to swim at Nantasket and Wollaston beaches?