Ballston

Managed by The Swim Guide - Massachusetts

As a non-profit, Swim Guide depends on donations to help millions of people connect to clean water.

Ballston Beach is a large Truro beach overlooking the Atlantic Ocean on Cape Cod. This beach has soft sand and lots of space. There are some waves so swimmers should take caution as there are no lifeguards on duty. The waves make it a good place to surf or boogie board. Parking is available and there are some handicap spaces. Beach parking stickers are required.

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COVID-19

Keep your distance from other people.

Practicing social distancing is essential right now. Follow the advice of the health experts. If your community has asked that you remain indoors and away from others, do so. Heading to the beach should only be considered an option if social distancing practices can be followed. Spending a day in any crowded place is the worst thing we can do for our most vulnerable right now and will counter the efforts to curb the virus’ spread.

For more information, please visit the World Health Organization public resource on COVID-19.

Water Quality

Passed water quality tests at least 95% of the time
Historical Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on August 18th, 2020. The Swim Guide - Massachusetts updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on August 20th, 2020 at 10:48 AM.

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Report Pollution

Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

The Truro County Department of Health, and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation collect water quality samples from June through September. Beaches are tested weekly, while others are tested monthly. Infrequently used beaches or beaches that historically have had very few, if any, water quality issues are tested less often, while high-use or historically problematic beaches are tested more often.

The water is tested for Enterococci to determine water quality in brackish and marine water environments. Enterococci is a group of bacterial species typically found in human and animal intestines and are therefore present in sewage. Enterococci is also referred to as indicator organisms. Indicator organisms are used to predict the presence of pathogenic, or disease-causing, organisms associated with fecal contamination.

Swim Guide checks for the latest information daily, Monday - Friday during the swimming season.

A beach is marked Green when less than 104 units of Enterococci / 100 ml of water is present in a single sample, or when the geometric mean of 5 samples contains less than 35 units / 100ml of water.

A beach is marked Red when more than 104 units of Enterococci / 100 ml of water is present in a single sample, or when the geometric mean of 5 samples contains more than 35 units / 100ml of water.

A beach is marked Grey when there is no current or reliable monitoring information available.

Water Quality Graph