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With the Swim Guide App, you can easily find out if your local lakes, rivers, and beaches are safe for swimming.
Powered by data collected by your local Waterkeeper, the app provides real-time insights on water safety — like which areas have elevated E. coli levels or pollution — all in an easy-to-use interactive map.
Polluted water can cause thousands of illnesses. That’s why we collect water samples from Memorial Day to Labor Day, testing for E. coli and other water quality indicators. Results are updated online and in the app, with green icons indicating safe waters and red icons marking areas with contamination. You can easily see updates on the Swim Guide website or in the app.
Once you open the app, you will see icons and information about when your water was last tested and which Swim Guide affiliate is responsible for verifying the water quality at this location.
When swimming season is over, or when the water quality data has not been updated on the normal schedule (e.g., weekly), it goes into historical status. This means that rather than displaying out-of-date data, it displays the beach’s average water quality for that year.
We may manually set the status for a specific body of water if we have concerns about the sampling protocol, if there is an emergency, if monitoring practices don’t exist or have recently changed, or other reasons that render the water status “special”.
In short: You should care if there is poop in your water. Let’s get real.
Water contamination is largely from an overflow of human sewage facilities and runoff from farming activities. This happens due to decades of lack of regulations or slack enforcement. No one should ever have to swim in unsafe waters.
We are proud to provide Carolinians with the Swim Guide App, so water lovers have information about the safety of your local recreational water.
What do we test for?
Swim Guide water samples are collected from Memorial Day to Labor Day, analyzed for E. coli bacteria, and tested for basic water chemistry. Some waters are also tested for basic water chemistry like dissolved Oxygen, pH, and other water quality indicators. Then results are posted online or in the app.
Water Quality Data can be used to bolster legislation and improve the regulation of our waterways. Sampling help identifies problem areas where work is needed to enhance the quality of water for the future.
Waterkeeper organizations in North Carolina collect and analyze water samples from some of your favorite recreational spots and post results in the Swim Guide App — AND we are working to improve legislation and enforcement to protect your water quality further.
Become a Water Warrior by Donating today.
Your gift helps offset the cost of collecting water samples.
Download & Share the Swim Guide App
Learn about water quality and safety in your area, and tell your friends.
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 App, or by contacting Your Local Waterkeeper. This will alert your local waterkeepers of environmental issues that can be followed up on.
