Alarming 10 Percent Of Beaches Fail Water Quality Test

The National Resources Defense Council analyzed the water quality of 3,485 different beaches in 2013 and has recently released their findings. The recent report shows that at least 10 percent of beaches in the United States failed the water quality test. These beaches have been deemed so polluted that they are unsafe for any visitors to swim in.

The water quality of these beaches was judged by the Environmental Protection Agency’s highest standard for swimmer safety, the Beach Action Value. Although the National Resource Defense Council has advocated improvements to beach water quality, no significant efforts to improve water quality have been taken. According to the report by the National Resource Defense Council, if water quality was judged by the same standards as it was last year, the percentage of beaches that fail the water quality test would still be the same.

The NRDC considers the safety of beachgoers its biggest concern when judging water quality. Jon Devine, a senior attorney at the NRDC, tells CNN in a statement his thoughts on beach water quality:

“Sewage and contaminated runoff in the water should never ruin a family beach trip… But no matter where you live, urban slobber and other pollution can seriously compromise the water quality at your favorite beach and make your family sick.”

The EPA estimates that up to 3.5 million people are afflicted with illnesses caused by the overflow of raw sewage into ocean waters. However, the number may be even higher than that since many victims fail to recognize the cause of their illness and therefore don’t report it to health officials.

NRDC lists some of the myriad of illnesses that ocean sewage can cause in a press release:

“Beach water pollution nationwide causes a range of waterborne illnesses in swimmers including stomach flu, skin rashes, pinkeye, ear, nose and throat problems, dysentery, hepatitis, respiratory ailments, neurological disorders, and other serious health problems. For senior citizens, small children and people with weak immune systems, the results can even be fatal.”

In the report, the NRDC also released a “repeat offender” list of beaches that continue to fail the water quality tests since 2009. States with especially poor water quality include Alaska, Mississippi and Ohio, the worst being Ohio with a failure rate of 35 percent.

The beaches with the highest water quality include beaches along the eastern coastline. Beaches in Delaware, New Jersey and New Hampshire had failure rates as low as 3 percent.