CLEVELAND, Ohio — Wading into the water at Edgewater Beach, Cleveland’s popular swimming spot west of downtown, has been discouraged several times this summer.

Three separate warnings came after a sewer outfall at the western edge of the beach discharged onto the sand, dumping a mixture of stormwater and raw waste into Lake Erie.

After each discharge, E. coli levels soared.

On July 24, for example, the outfall emptied for 25 minutes, pushing bacteria counts in the water off the beach from just 4 colony-forming units (CFUs) per 100 milliliters of water to 4,840 the next day — far above safe levels for swimming.

Animal droppings and runoff contribute to bacteria levels, so they can’t all be blamed on the sewage discharge. But district officials believe it’s time for the outfall, which

See Full Page