# What are the largest cities with major swimmable rivers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 12, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-largest-cities-with-major-swimmable-rivers/801465 "2017-11-12T20:06:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-largest-cities-with-major-swimmable-rivers/801465/1 "2017-11-12T20:06:44Z")
The Charles River in Boston (yes, the river of _Dirty Water_ fame) is now clean enough to be swimmable and they’re actually discussing opening a public beach (assuming it can get past NIMBY, of which there is plenty). I figure most rivers in long-established cities are polluted. Which major cities have swimmable rivers? Are the Hudson or East Rivers in NYC clean enough? I understand that Paris has some canals with swimming spots but that fails my completely arbitrary requirement of being a river. I assume the west coast has some newer cities (like Seattle) that have had less time to completely foul up their rivers. Are they swimmable? ---
**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2017, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-largest-cities-with-major-swimmable-rivers/801465/2 "2017-11-12T20:21:13Z")
The Moskva appears to be safe for swimming. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-largest-cities-with-major-swimmable-rivers/801465/3 "2017-11-12T20:30:08Z")
The Hudson River is usually safe for swimming in the last 10-15 years. This is between NYC & Jersey City so a huge city and a large city. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2017, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-largest-cities-with-major-swimmable-rivers/801465/4 "2017-11-12T20:31:05Z")
There are a few nice beaches on the Ottawa River. They sometimes close after major rain storms due to storm sewer overflow, but they’re (finally) working on a solution to that. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-largest-cities-with-major-swimmable-rivers/801465/5 "2017-11-12T20:34:46Z")
[The East River is clean enough to swim in (most days).](https://www.theverge.com/2013/7/8/4503362/brookyln-bridge-swim-nyc-swim) > [@](#): > > The truth is, the rivers in New York today are clean enough to swim in. The East River has an unattractive, greenish tint, and a few floating Doritos bags, sure. But on most days, the levels of bacteria meet federal safety guidelines, according to state and local officials. Even when the bacteria levels in the water are high, it’s unlikely that swimmers will get sick. ---
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2017, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-largest-cities-with-major-swimmable-rivers/801465/6 "2017-11-12T20:40:19Z")
There’s regular swimming events on the Ohio River in Cincinnati, so I assume it’s fine upstream in Pittsburgh and hopefully downstream in Louisville. I’m not so sure about the Mississippi River though. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2017, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-largest-cities-with-major-swimmable-rivers/801465/7 "2017-11-12T20:41:27Z")
The Seine in Paris and the Thames in London are clean enough, but the traffic on the one and the tides on the other make free swimming unsafe. On the other hand, even when the Thames was at its filthiest, there was a deliberately created [“beach” by Tower Bridge](https://isleofdogslife.wordpress.com/2014/08/21/tower-beach-remembering-londons-riviera/). River swimming in possible in [Munich](http://en.munich.foravisit.com/activities-leisure-recreation/swimming-bathing/isar-river/), and one man [swims to work](http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20170724-the-man-who-swims-to-work). ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2017, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-largest-cities-with-major-swimmable-rivers/801465/8 "2017-11-12T20:42:59Z")
Probably depends on what you consider swimmable. Shanghai, at or very near the top of the list, has the polluted Yangtze running through it (6th largest river in discharge). Chairman Mao once swam across the Yangtze as a publicity stunt, and they have commemorations of it in which people swim across it in various places, including Shanghai. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2017, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-largest-cities-with-major-swimmable-rivers/801465/9 "2017-11-12T20:45:08Z")
I wouldn’t, but plenty of people swim in the Ganges. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2017, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-largest-cities-with-major-swimmable-rivers/801465/10 "2017-11-12T20:52:51Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > I assume the west coast has some newer cities (like Seattle) that have had less time to completely foul up their rivers. Are they swimmable? This would not be a good assumption. The worst pollution for most rivers occured in the last hundred years and cities like Seattle and Portland are older than that. Not too long ago, the Willamette River at Portland was not a good place to swim. However, that’s [changed in recent years](http://www.opb.org/news/article/portland-river-willamette-swim-guide/) although there’s [room for improvement](http://willamette-riverkeeper.org/superfund/). The Columbia (and not just in the Portland/Vancouver area) is [questionable in places](http://columbiariverkeeper.org/water-quality/is-it-safe-to-swim/) ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-largest-cities-with-major-swimmable-rivers/801465/11 "2017-11-12T20:58:35Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > I wouldn’t, but plenty of people swim in the Ganges. Another one I was going to bring up. The Ganges is number five in volume, as opposed to number six for the Yangtze, but the biggest cities in India aren’t on the Ganges. Shanghai is at the mouth of the Yangtze. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2017, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-largest-cities-with-major-swimmable-rivers/801465/12 "2017-11-12T21:38:48Z")
I was on a business trip to Pittsburgh, and was told never to swim in the rivers, not because of pollution, but because there’s enough turbulence to make swimming unsafe. Pity, because the water looked most inviting! (There were people on jet-skis on the water.) ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2017, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-largest-cities-with-major-swimmable-rivers/801465/13 "2017-11-12T21:50:23Z")
The Sacramento/San Joaquin rivers empty out next to San Francisco, the water might be a bit cold but it’s clean enough to swim in … ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2017, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-largest-cities-with-major-swimmable-rivers/801465/14 "2017-11-12T22:09:23Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > The Sacramento/San Joaquin rivers empty out next to San Francisco, the water might be a bit cold but it’s clean enough to swim in … The Sacramento/San Joaquin River Delta (folks around here just call it “The Delta”) empties into the Suisun Bay something like 40 miles from SF. That’s quite a stretch to consider it to be in that city. The Suisun Bay is like an eastward wing of San Pablo Bay which might be thought of as the northern extension of the SF Bay. Stockton, otoh, is on the river, and with a population of ~300K, that probably rates as a “a city”. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2017, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-largest-cities-with-major-swimmable-rivers/801465/15 "2017-11-12T22:50:04Z")
Minneapolis has several beaches alongside the Mississippi River, like White Sands beach just north of Lake Street, just beyond the Minneapolis Rowing Clubhouse. But they’re used more for canoeing or boating than swimming – the river current and the boat & barge traffic discourage most swimmers. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2017, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-largest-cities-with-major-swimmable-rivers/801465/16 "2017-11-12T22:51:02Z")
I imagine that swimming across the Detroit River is a bit of a no no. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2017, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-largest-cities-with-major-swimmable-rivers/801465/17 "2017-11-12T23:07:33Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > The Sacramento/San Joaquin River Delta (folks around here just call it “The Delta”) empties into the Suisun Bay something like 40 miles from SF. That’s quite a stretch to consider it to be in that city. The Suisun Bay is like an eastward wing of San Pablo Bay which might be thought of as the northern extension of the SF Bay. > > Stockton, otoh, is on the river, and with a population of ~300K, that probably rates as a “a city”. It’s a summer party thing in the Central Valley (drained by the above rivers) to tie a whole bunch of inner tubes together, stick styrofoam coolers of beer in some of them, and float downstream all day. They say that sunscreen is kind of a must. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-largest-cities-with-major-swimmable-rivers/801465/18 "2017-11-13T00:03:34Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > This would not be a good assumption. The worst pollution for most rivers occured in the last hundred years and cities like Seattle and Portland are older than that. Not too long ago, the Willamette River at Portland was not a good place to swim. However, that’s [changed in recent years](http://www.opb.org/news/article/portland-river-willamette-swim-guide/) although there’s [room for improvement](http://willamette-riverkeeper.org/superfund/). The Columbia (and not just in the Portland/Vancouver area) is [questionable in places](http://columbiariverkeeper.org/water-quality/is-it-safe-to-swim/) Yeah, the county issues boil water and no swim notices for the Willamette from time to time because of sewage overflow. And this is after a huge “big pipe” project some years ago. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-largest-cities-with-major-swimmable-rivers/801465/19 "2017-11-13T00:04:11Z")
I should know this since I’m from the PNW but, in Portland, are the Willamette and Columbia rivers swimmable? If they are, I would think they would be too cold even during the summer. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-largest-cities-with-major-swimmable-rivers/801465/20 "2017-11-13T00:19:52Z")
In Austin, Texas. The river is the Colorado. There is a big river culture in Austin. It’s a great party town any way. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-largest-cities-with-major-swimmable-rivers/801465.md?page=2)