New reports have found that U.S. beaches are so full of sewage pollution, they are often unsafe for swimming.
- A new report has found that more than half of the beaches in coastal states, the Great Lakes states, and Puerto Rico saw at least one day where the water wasn’t safe for swimming.
- The reason for this was Bacteria levels were higher than what the Environmental Protection Agency deems acceptable.
- The report authors measured the beach’s quality using the EPA standard, which measures the concentration of bacteria in a sample of beach water.
- At 605 of the beaches, the researchers found the water was unsafe 25% of the days sampled, according to data pulled from the National Water Quality Monitoring Council.
- This pollution can expose swimmers to illness or infection, especially people with compromised immune systems or the very young or elderly.
- The report suggests improving sewage infrastructure and building systems to capture runoff before it reaches our oceans.
- Issues of water quality have existed for decades. Yet here we are still dealing with the same old thIng. Shouldn’t we have stopped polluting our waterways by now?
