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I'm not much one for swimming in a lake- prefer pools or the ocean- so I never felt that bypassing the lake beach was a big sacrifice while visiting Chicago. There is certainly plenty of other stuff to keep occupied there. I love looking at the lake and seeing the turquoise and blue colors as the backdrop to the city, but I don't think of the lake as being great for swimming. Up in northern Michigan, sure, but Chicago? Idk about that. Also wouldn't really be down for swimming in Lake Erie off of downtown Cleveland. Too much crap (sometimes literally) and uncontrolled runoff to deal with. |
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every once in a while chicago's massive deep tunnel system is overwhelmed by extremely large rain events, and untreated water will back-up into the river and they end up opening control locks in downtown chicago and up in wilmette to release excess water into the lake. when that happens they do close area beaches for a couple days until lake currents can dilute that run-off to safe levels, but that's typically only once, maybe twice a summer. Quote:
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if it was actually something to be worried about, there's no way in hell i would let my children swim in the lake all the time. but be afraid, be very afraid, your sister sure has some amazing hold over you. next time you're in the windy city, be sure not to drink any tap water because, ya know, scary, scary stuff. |
I personally swam as a kid in Lake Michigan, and my kids have as well.
None of us have grown a third eye so far |
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I think it's an issue of having different standards :shrug: |
Biscayne Bay can often be rather disgusting.
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i just strongly disagreed with your sister's admonishment of "don't swim in lake michigan, you'll get sick if you do". that's 100% grade-A fear-mongering nonsense. if it were true, our family would have been sick all summer long because we go to the beach as often as our schedule allows. |
Person 1: My sister lives in City X and says the beaches are deadly
Person 2: My family and I have lived in City X for decades, and we swim at the beach often in the summer, and nobody has died. Person 1: You're biased! You're a homer! My sister is the one true authority on City X, and would never be misinformed or exaggerate a threat! |
Chicago is the only city to use same day DNA testing for water quality on our beaches.
Comparing Lake Michigan to the Hudson River is asinine. One of the world's greatest marvels of civil engineering took place here 120 years ago when the Chicago River was reversed, thus pulling waste away from the lake and keeping it clean. If one is simply afraid of swimming in natural bodies of water, that's one thing. But to be afraid of Lake Michigan over, say, the Gulf Coast--which has seen a recent uptick in cases of flesh eating bacteria--is silly. And I don't see many people scared to swim at Panama City Beach. |
“Hypodermics on the (Jersey) shore”
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I'd think Lake Michigan would be fairly clean due to its huge size and ability to 'clean' itself compared to smaller lakes; Onondaga Lake near Syracuse for example.
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And I’ve read the Skaneateles Lake in the finger lakes is one of the cleanest in the nation. Which is interesting because Onondaga is one of the most polluted (chemically, I think).
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and with the invasion of the zebra and quagga mussels, it is said that the total volume of lake michigan's water can be filtered about once per week by the trillions of those little filter feeding bastards. that's roughly 50 total filtering cycles per year. it's a big reason why lake michigan's water has gotten so clear and blue over recent decades. |
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"Four of the six beaches–from Lee Street on the south to Lincoln Street at Northwestern–are closed due to high e. coli levels in the water. Those levels likely rose because of heavy downpours on Thursday that washed the bacteria from shore." https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2019/07...eaches-closed/ |
^ you can easily find articles about e. coli beach closures from coast to coast.
apparently all beaches are now "gross". FWIW, we've gone to foster/hollywood beaches here in chicago about a half dozen times this summer. not once have the beaches been closed because of e. coli, and chicago park district rigorously tests its beach water daily (FAR more frequently than your typical beach). and even then, i'm still very skeptical of this so-called e.coli menace. back when i was a kid in the 70s/80s, they didn't even test the water for that shit, and with the ridiculous amount of time i spent swimming in lake michigan back then, i'm sure that i swam in plenty of high e.coli water without issue. i probably built up a resistance to it. my family (along with millions of other chicagoans) will continue disregarding your sister's "advice". |
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Note in the article that Chicago Park District questions their testing methodology and that CPD tests every day. This is not to discount the goals the group advocates. Cleaner water solutions are super important and Chicago is working (too slowly perhaps) on newer, better ways of dealing with runoff. There are days that I certainly wouldn't go swimming in Lake Michigan near the city, but to not go in due to a generalized fear e.coli is limiting yourself from a terrific experience - floating in the water and looking at one of the most gorgeous cities in the world. |
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Oh lookey here https://ktla.com/2019/07/26/nearly-6...h-among-worst/ :crazy: |
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