Check Chicago’s beach advisories before you swim

Chicagoans know how to maximize our outdoor summer fun. Summertime in this city can include patios, festivals, farmers markets and many beach days on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Too often, however, water pollution ruins our enjoyment of the beach – and it can even make us sick. Across Illinois, 95% of beaches tested had potentially unsafe levels of fecal contamination on at least one day in 2022.

Fecal contamination from sources such as urban runoff, sewage overflows and factory farms can contain pathogens that threaten the health of swimmers, or that force beaches to be closed to protect public health. Scientists estimate 57 million instances of people getting sick each year in the United States from swimming in polluted waters. Those illnesses can include nausea, diarrhea, ear infections and rashes.

On June 25, 2024 as of 1:45pm local time, four of Chicago’s beaches were under a swim advisory due to water quality issues. 63rd Street, Foster, Margaret T. Burroughs and Marion Mahony Griffin beaches all had swim advisories stating that the water quality warranted caution by failing to meet federal water quality standards.

A day at the beach shouldn’t make you sick. You can help keep yourself, your family and your community healthy by checking for swim advisories before you head into the water and support long term solutions for clean water.

Check before you swim

Having information about the water quality at the beach before you swim is one way to help you have a more enjoyable day at the beach.

If you are headed to a beach managed by the Chicago Park District, their website has information about beach conditions. One factor they use is the results of daily water quality testing which is conducted from the Friday of Memorial Day weekend until Labor Day. You can look up the beach you’re headed to on their website before even leaving your house.

Conditions also may change throughout the day. So once you get to the beach, flags at the beach will tell you if there is an active swim advisory with a yellow flag or a swim ban with a red flag.

Support clean water protections

Ultimately, we need to stop beach pollution at its source – by repairing our sewage systems and preventing runoff pollution. We can help prevent runoff pollution by increasing public investment in natural and green infrastructure features such as rain barrels, permeable pavement, urban green space and green roofs. By protecting natural infrastructure such as riparian areas and wetlands that filter pathogens and other pollutants we can help harness nature’s own tools to protect our clean water.

But at the very least, the public needs to know when fecal bacteria is in the water at the beach. We should expand and improve beach testing to identify beaches where pollution puts public health at risk and ensure the safety of the public.

Help protect yourself on your next beach day by checking warnings before you swim and help protect future beach days by supporting clean water protections.