Dr. Frank Bures It is currently summer and getting typically hot. Several new reports tell of swimming beaches in several states being closed temporarily.
A July 1 article said there were at least 37 beaches closed in Massachusetts. As of this article, four of 12 have been closed in Minneapolis. California has closed some.
Suffolk County in New York had 63 closed because of an increase in what is thought to be hazardous levels of bacteria after heavy rainfall and stormwater runoff. A July 3 article wrote that at least 10 states have closed beaches or warned people not to swim in the water because of high fecal bacteria levels. Some other closures are because of blue-green algae or cyanobacter blooms.
The "no swimming" signs are trying to warn people that levels of certain bacteria and other microbes have gotten high enough to possibly cause disease if they get the contaminated water in or on them. According to an article from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the beach pollution reaches the water via one or two, or both, sources. The first is point sources like pipes or culverts pouring the pollution directly into water from homes or businesses, which are easy to monitor.
The second are non-point sources of diffuse flows passing over or through land that can contain the pollution. These are more difficult to detect or monitor because they tend to vary a lot and are not visible. Many of the most common pollutants are from humans and animals.
Human fecal matter in water bod.