WHAT IS SWIM GUIDE?
Swim Guide is a global program that allows anyone to search for the pollution status based on E. coli presence at beaches or popular swim sites that are actively monitored by environmental organizations.
​
​It is a resource for people to be better informed regarding their decision to recreate on the water. The swim guide website also provides information about the swim site — including accessibility and nearby landmarks. Swim Guide sampling is typically completed between April to October during warm weather in our region.
​
Three Rivers Waterkeeper samples popular recreation sites along our Three Rivers and tributaries weekly. For the 2025 season, our team sampled around 12 sites each week.
​
Swim Guide sampling is posted weekly on our Instagram and Facebook, so give us a follow if you'd like to see our updates!
HOW IS SWIM GUIDE SAMPLING DONE?
The water sampling for Swim Guide is done over the course of two days. The process begins with preparing the sampling equipment and selecting our rotating site. Then, we travel to each of the sites and collect the samples.
​We use gloves to keep the sample sterile and a sampling pole to reach from the shoreline into the waterway for collection. Samples are labeled with time and location and brought back to the office to be analyzed. For the testing process, 1 mL of the water is placed onto a R-Card (used to detect E. coli colonies) with a cover slip and placed into an incubator at 95°F. After approximately 24-hours, the samples are analyzed for any apparent bacterial growth, specifically, E. coli.​​​
Water Quality Standards for E.coli
​
To test whether the water is safe to swim in, float on, or drink, we perform bacterial growth tests on the samples collected. These tests primarily check for the growth of potentially harmful bacteria that can be found in waterways due to combined sewer overflows. Raw sewage contains bacteria like E.coli and types of Coliform which can cause illness if consumed. It can also cause illness for wildlife and generally decrease the health of the ecosystem. Click here to learn more about recreational water standards.
​
The threshold for recreational water quality standard as determined by the EPA is approximately 2.0 cfu per 1 mL of sample for E. coli. This means that if there are more than 2 colonies of bacteria present, the water is labeled as unsafe for recreation at that time.​​​​
WHY IS SWIM GUIDE SAMPLING IMPORTANT?
The waterways in Southwestern PA along the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers suffer from a combination of legacy and novel pollution sources, the most common of which are acid mine drainage, combined sewage overflows, increased flooding and stormwater events, and industrial pollution. Nearly a third of our region’s rivers and streams are considered impaired by the PA Department of Environmental Protection.
Despite the historical pollution and perception of our waterways, many people boat or kayak, fish, swim, and walk along our waterways. Nevertheless, people are curious about the health of our rivers and tributaries and the safety of water recreation. One of the most common questions we get is if the Three Rivers are safe to swim in. Thus, Three Rivers Waterkeeper monitors our rivers for swimmability during the warm weather season.​​​
Allegheny County's Sewer Systems​
​
The City of Pittsburgh’s sewer system and various others in the county are combined which means that our stormwater system and sewage system share one pipe to transport wastewater and stormwater. When the combined system is overwhelmed with stormwater (rainfall as little as 1/10th of an inch), the combined wastewater from our homes and the stormwater runoff collected from our streets gets released into our rivers and tributaries at outfalls to prevent backed up systems.
​
There are different types of systems carrying waste and untreated water that can pollute our waterways:
-
CombinedSewer System: stormwater and sewage wastewater systems are combined
-
Sanitary Sewer System: a separate system that transports wastewater directly to a sewage treatment plant
-
Municipal Separate StormSewer System: a separate system that carries stormwater directly to a waterways
​
Pittsburgh’s infrastructure was built before the passage of the Clean Water Act and currently does not meet the compliance requirements regarding untreated discharges into our waterways. Currently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has a consent decree with Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (ALCOSAN) as it violates the Clean Water Act when there are discharges of untreated sewage into our waterways. While the public waits for improvements to the system to allow for an increased volume in our combined sewer system, it is crucial that we are aware of untreated discharges and how it may impact our ability to recreate in our rivers.
​
​​​​
