With one of the hottest summers on record and beach season in full swing, Milwaukee Riverkeeper has released an interactive SWIM Guide to make it easy for Milwaukee area residents to find a safe beach for swimming.

The app is being released on Waterkeeper Alliance’s “Swimmable” Action Day, where Waterkeepers across the globe will plunge into the waters of their lakes, rivers, and ocean coasts to celebrate the act of swimming and our right to clean, swimmable waters. The Swim Guide utilizes water quality monitoring data from government authorities to determine the quality of water at hundreds of beaches throughout Milwaukee, the Great Lakes, and the Country.

Green marks indicate where the water quality is acceptable, red marks show where it is unsafe. The Swim Guide is updated as frequently as the data is gathered. It also enables users to get directions, view photos and report pollution immediately to Milwaukee Riverkeeper.

“It can be quite frustrating to pack up the family, head to the beach, and then arrive to find out the beach is closed,” said Executive Director Karen Schapiro. “With this easy to use application, that problem should be a thing of the past.”

By introducing the Swim Guide, Milwaukee Riverkeeper is aiming not only to protect beachgoers from getting sick, but also seeks to raise public awareness about pollution threatening our rights to swimmable waters.

“We want people to know that after heavy rains and sewage overflow events, sometimes our water quality is compromised and not safe to swim in,” said Milwaukee Riverkeeper Cheryl Nenn. “Not only does the SWIM Guide inform someone of the health of the beach, it provides statistical data of how often specific beaches are closed so they can make educated decisions about where to swim with their families.”

The Swim Guide is a downloadable app for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android (2.1 or higher) and can also be viewed and downloaded on Milwaukee Riverkeeper’s website.