Our Swim Guide program monitors E.coli at popular swimming spots throughout the watershed. While NC uses fecal bacteria standards, the EPA’s beach action value is 126 MPN for E.coli to protect health.
We monitor locations in the Haw River watershed and Jordan Lake.
Download the Swim Guide app for recreation access info. Results are published each Friday in our E-newsletter, on our website, and on social media. Subscribe to text updates by texting HAW to (844) 956-1139.
To call and check if you don’t have access to the internet: 919-618-3411
Weekend of June 21, 2024 – Swim Guide Hotline number: 919-618-3411 (results are read in English, soon, also, to be read in Spanish.)
Share our newsletter with others so everyone can know which sites are best to swim. https://45df9-eeee.icpage.net/haw-river-assembly-newsletter-sign-up
 Swim Guide 2024 ~ Week/weekend of July 3 (early this week for July 4th holiday) |
3 out of 11 failed this today. Glencoe, Swepsonville and Chicken Bridge were above the limit for E. coli bacteria in the water.
What is MPN? It represents the estimated number of E. Coli bacteria in the water.
126 MPN, the limit, represents the newly proposed Beach Action Value from NCDEQ and reflects the EPA’s guidance. MPN means the estimated number of E. coli bacteria per unit volume of water.
Green icons indicate safe E-coli levels and red icons unsafe, based on EPA recommendations for beaches.
Why E-coli Testing?
Bacterial contamination in water threatens our health. Since 1986, the EPA has urged states to adopt E. coli standards to protect public health and recreational water quality. North Carolina is one of the few states that hasn’t complied. It’s time for the state to adopt the E. coli standard.
Read the Waterkeepers Carolina report “Is It Safe To Swim?”
Please suggest new locations for us to monitor next swim season! Email: info@hawriver.org
Check out our Swim Guide program and find a map of our beaches here!
Interested in supporting our 2024 Swim Guide program?
Donate to help:
- Support mileage for our Water Quality Program
- Help offset costs of disposable sample equipment (sterile bottles, ice, gloves)
- Printing costs for flyers at beaches
- Help protect swimmers from the dangers of E. coli!
Don’t Forget to Download the Official Swim Guide App!
Take Swim Guide with you – wherever you go! The Swim Guide app is free. Experience the freedom of beach-hunting from your Apple or Android smartphone.
Haw River Assembly staff and interns monitor water quality at sites in this region for E.Coli bacteria. Here’s why that matters.
The Importance of Swim Guide
Every person should be able to swim at any beach on any day of the summer and never worry about health risks. Without current, reliable data about water quality, people are vulnerable to illness and infection. When water isn’t safe to touch, people withdraw from it. And when the connection between us and our water fades, so does our instinct to protect it.
- Swim Guide has helped to prevent thousands of waterborne illnesses simply by making it easy for people to know when their water is contaminated and when it is clean for swimming.
- Swim Guide is helping to identify sources of water pollution so that together we can act to restore and maintain swimmable, drinkable, fishable waters.
Water at all sites is sampled for E. coli at all sites. Basic water chemistry (pH, DO, temp, conductivity) is also monitored at all sites. Haw River Assembly utilizes the standardized federal criteria of 235 E.coli/100 ml for collecting and analyzing water samples. Test results are expressed as Most Probable Number (MPN) of E.coli cfu (colony forming units) per 100 ml. Water samples are collected weekly. Results are posted one day after collection.
Results will be communicated through the swim guide app and results tables will be put on Haw River Assembly’s website and social media site. They are also available by email or by calling Haw River Assembly at 919-542-5790 or emily@hawriver.org.
Finding the Best Beaches
Swim Guide offers water quality information for a wide variety of beaches, ranging from city parks to remote lakes ideal for camping.
To find the beach that’s just right for you, browse the map or search for a beach by name. Beach descriptions tell you about amenities, lifeguards, where to park, and everything else you need to know to enjoy a day at the beach.
Have a favorite beach? Bookmark it! The next time you use the app, it will show up at the top of the beach list, making it easier for you to access information.
Don’t know how to get to the beach of your choice? The app also provides walking, driving, and transit directions.
Make sure to share your love of beaches with friends and family using our built-in social media sharing tools.
Beach water quality information that is easy to understand
Every beach is marked with an icon so you know when the water at your favorite beach meets government water quality standards. A beach is marked Green when single sample results are under 235 E.coli / 100 ML water. A beach is marked Red when the results are equal to or above 235 E.coli / 100 ML water. A beach is marked Grey when there are no current results or there is no available information.
Reliable beach water quality sources
Water quality information is gathered from government agencies or reported by Swim Guide affiliates themselves.
In any beach, look at the “Source” section. This will tell you who samples the water at each beach, how often, and what water quality standards apply. The date and time stamps tell you when the sample results were last verified by the Swim Guide affiliate.
Pollution Reporting
Bacteria isn’t the only pollution that can ruin your trip to the beach. If you are concerned about water quality, litter, minor spills, or other problems, let us know using the pollution reporting tool in Swim Guide. This will alert your local affiliate to environmental problems. (In an emergency, always notify the appropriate authority).
The History of Swim Guide
Swim Guide was created by the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper staff in Toronto to answer this simple question: is it safe to swim in Lake Ontario?
We thought it would be easy to find the answer. We were wrong.
As it turns out, reliable facts and figures about beach water quality are hard to come by. So we started compiling our own.
Over the years, more affiliates have started using Swim Guide to share information about swimmable waters with the public. As of 2019, Swim Guide is the most popular beach information service in the world.
Our Swim Guide Program begins Memorial Day weekend and ends after Labor Day.
