As the official start of summer approaches, the Swim Guide is back to help guide swimmers as to where to take a dip.

Sounds Rivers, the local environmental education and advocacy nonprofit, launched the program last week for a second year. Through the Sound Rivers website, smartphone app or signing up to have results texted, users can find out where unhealthy levels of E. coli bacteria exist in waterways around Washington, Greenville, New Bern and Raleigh, which was added this year.

Last week, with the exception of a couple of sites on the Neuse River, all results were positive, according to Forrest English, the Pamlico-Tar riverkeeper.

“Things looked pretty good overall. All of our sites here passed, which means high water quality and low levels of bacteria,” English said.

While some bacteria is harmless to humans, other types, such as E. coli, can make people sick or cause more severe gastrointestinal problems. E. coli is found in the intestines of people and other animals and gets into the waterways most commonly through run-off after rain events.

Results from Swim Guide are based on testing of water samples collected by Sound Rivers; those results are then compared to state and EPA water quality criteria for recreational contact.

“We have a group of volunteers throughout the Neuse and here locally on the Tar-Pamlico who are helping us collect the samples every week, and we absolutely could not do it without our volunteers,” English said.

English said the response to Swim Guide’s first year was positive, and the organization is continuing to find ways to share the information with a wider audience, including through Facebook videos in English and Spanish.

“We’re lucky enough to have two interns that speak Spanish this year, and they’ve been helping us provide that same information in Spanish, which we’re really excited about,” English said.

English said the Swim Guide is meant to be exactly that: a guide for users, not a decree on places people can and cannot swim.

“We’re not a regulatory body, and it’s certainly not our intent to scare people out of the water or anything,” English said. “We just want to provide the information so that people can make informed decisions for themselves.”

Access Swim Guide by visiting soundrivers.org/swimguide/, downloading the smartphone app from that page or text SWIM to 33222.