Water Quality Rankings Affected by Frequent Testing

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The results are of water quality are in, and Minnesota ranked first for the Great Lakes states — and 12th overall. Illinois was last in the region and 28th overall. Five percent of Minnesota’s samples exceeded the federal standard compared to 16 percent of Illinois’.

But beach experts say that states that test beaches more frequently may be ranked lower.

Illinois officials blame its low ranking on the frequent, often daily, beach water tests the state does during the beach season.

“The more you sample, the more opportunity you have to find something, the more opportunity there could be to close the beach,” said Melaney Arnold, spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Read the rest of this report, with a table showing the rankings, at Report ranks the water quality of Great Lakes beaches | Great Lakes Echo.