Chicago beaches open for summer season

Chicago’s beaches are open for the summer.

Beaches along Chicago’s Lake Michigan officially opened to swimmers Friday. This year the Chicago Park District has a new high-tech system to give real-time predictions of bacteria counts in the water. The Chicago Tribune reports the district will use computer software to monitor water temperatures, model the bottom of the lake and keep track of waves.

City officials also announced that starting this year they will close beaches only when sewer overflows contaminate the water. That’s a change from previous years when beaches were closed based on high bacteria counts. Now data will be posted for swimmers to decide themselves if they want to enter the water.

The city has 24 beaches. Last year swimming was banned for a combined 36 days.