(photo: Getty Images)
Before you dive into the water of Lake Michigan, you might want to do some homework on the water!
The Environment America Research and Policy Center (EARPC) found that more than half of American beaches were home to potentially dangerous levels of fecal bacteria at some point last year.
Illinois, Mississippi and Louisiana had some of the worst test results.
19 beaches in Illinois, all in Cook County, were sampled for bacteria, and all of them were potentially not safe for swimmers on at least one day last year.
The top 10 beaches by the most number of days that were potentially unsafe for swimming are:
- South Shore Beach, 93 potentially unsafe days, sampled on 98 days
- 63rd Street Beach, 91 potentially unsafe days, sampled on 95 days
- Foster Avenue Beach, 90 potentially unsafe days, sampled on 96 days
- Calumet South Beach, 89 potentially unsafe days, sampled on 96 days
- Rogers Avenue Beach, 89 potentially unsafe days, sampled on 95 days
- Howard Street Beach, 89 potentially unsafe days, sampled on 96 days
- Montrose Beach, 88 potentially unsafe days, sampled on 95 days
- Hartigan Beach, 88 potentially unsafe days, sampled on 96 days
- Marion Mahoney Griffin Beach, 82 potentially unsafe days, sampled on 96 days
- Leone Beach, 81 potentially unsafe days, sampled on 96 days
A pool is looking pretty nice right now...