Chicago Blue Water Task Force

The Blue Water Task Force is Surfrider’s volunteer water quality monitoring program that provides critical water quality information to protect public health at the beach. Surfrider chapters use this program to raise awareness of local pollution problems and to bring together communities to implement solutions.

Blue Water Task Force (BWTF) labs measure fecal indicator bacteria levels in recreational waters and compare them to water quality standards set to protect public health. Chapter-run BWTF programs fill in the gaps and extend the coverage of agency-run beach monitoring programs by sampling ocean and bay beaches, estuaries and potential freshwater sources of pollution such as stormwater outlets, rivers and creeks that discharge onto the beach.

Program Goal: To fill gaps in seasonal testing at Chicago area beaches. Chicago area beaches currently only test Memorial Day - Labor Day. The Chicago chapter will sample in the fall September - November and in the spring March - May. During these times the public is still entering the water, but there would otherwise be no water quality monitoring.

Local Partners: Surfrider volunteers collect samples from local beaches and supply them to the the University of Illinois Chicago where lab staff and student researchers analyze the samples and post the results in BWTF database.

Sampling Frequency & Season: Samples are collected from September through November and again from March through May, with a break during the winter months when the ice shelf may pose too great a risk to our volunteers.

State Beach Water Quality Monitoring Information: Illinois Department of Health and Indiana Department of Environmental Management

Connect with the Chicago Chapter: Website, Facebook, Instagram, Calendar

Local BWTF Program Sponsors: Stoke Riders

Other Local Water Quality Information & Resources: The University of Illinois at Chicago tests the water daily at Chicago City beaches from Memorial Day to Labor Day.