{"id":201,"date":"2014-07-02T15:49:24","date_gmt":"2014-07-02T19:49:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mypoolsigns.com\/blog\/?p=201"},"modified":"2018-05-08T08:06:27","modified_gmt":"2018-05-08T12:06:27","slug":"beach-time-make-sure-water-wont-make-sick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mypoolsigns.com/blog\/beach-time-make-sure-water-wont-make-sick\/","title":{"rendered":"Beach time? Make sure the water won’t make you sick"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s summer, and for millions of Americans, that means beach parties and swimming. In fact, we make almost 2 billion<\/a> trips to the beach every year! You might think natural bodies of water are safe from waterborne illnesses. But while the water at your local beach may look inviting, there\u2019s a 1 in 10 chance<\/a> it could be contaminated with polluted water that can make swimmers sick, according to the latest report<\/a> from the National Resources Defense Council. Illnesses that can be spread by contact with polluted beach water include stomach flu, skin rashes, pinkeye, respiratory infections, meningitis and hepatitis, according to the report. Children are more vulnerable because they tend to swallow more water when swimming.<\/p>\n

\"pristine<\/a>

Not all beaches are quite this pristine. The NRDC has just released an interactive map on American beaches’ water quality. From stockphotosforfree.com.<\/p><\/div>\n

Every year, the NRDC collects water samples from nearly 3,500 American beaches and evaluates it using the Environmental Protection Agency’s new water safety standard, “<\/span>Beach Action Value<\/a>. ” The BAV is meant to protect swimmers from pollution — the majority of which is caused by sewage overflow and contaminated storm water runoff.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year, more than 10 trillion gallons of untreated stormwater, including hundreds of billions of gallons of untreated sewage overflows, make their way into America\u2019s waterways, according to the EPA. Contaminated runoff has historically been the largest known source of beach water pollution,\u201d The report says.<\/span><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s report shows that about 1 in 10 beaches<\/a> are so polluted they\u2019re not safe for swimmers. The Great Lakes takes the dubious prize for the most polluted beaches, followed by the Gulf Coast and New England. Beaches in New York, Indiana and Ohio are on what the report calls a repeat offenders list. The NRDC offers a handy interactive map<\/a> you can plug your location into to find out how safe your area\u2019s beaches are.<\/p>\n

The report isn\u2019t all bad news. It also calls out 35 \u201c<\/span>superstars<\/a>\u201d \u2014 popular beaches across 14 states such as California\u2019s Newport Beach and New Jersey\u2019s Broadway Beach. Other experts, such as <\/span>Dr. Beach<\/a>, also call out the best beaches in the nation, showing there\u2019s plenty of great beaches left to choose from.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, the NRDC says without the <\/span>Clean Water Protection Act<\/a>, all beaches are at risk. It also offers up a simple <\/span>info graphic<\/a> showing how \u201cgreen infrastructure\u201d can help combat the problem.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe best way to keep this pollution out of America\u2019s beach water is to prevent it from the start \u2013 by investing in smarter, greener infrastructure on land, like porous pavement, green roofs, parks, roadside plantings and rain barrels,\u201d NRDC says. \u201cGreen infrastructure addresses stormwater pollution by stopping rain where it falls, enabling it to evaporate or filter into the ground naturally instead of carrying runoff from dirty streets to our beaches.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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