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The Chicago Park District will try a new fix next summer for a popular beach plagued by high bacteria counts–a floating filter system similar to one that officials say protected fish hatcheries during the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
If the 1,800-foot-long filter works as advertised at the 63rd Street Beach and decreases bacteria counts by at least 50 percent, the district will pay $400,000 to use it for the rest of the decade, officials said.
Swimming has been banned at the 63rd Street Beach numerous times in recent years, with a peak of 22 closings in 1999.
The filter would be stretched around an area of beach, extending to the sand and using anchors and a flotation barrier.
