The only time that would be was before the city existed. Sure we got carried away with chemicals in the 19th and 20th century, but before then a large portion of a city’s trash and poop ended up in the nearest body of water. Just dumped straight in. Don’t forget all the horse poop people had to deal with when that was the main transport system.
There was a reason diseases like cholera used to be such an issue.
Honestly I’d rather swim in the Hudson next to Manhattan today than in 1750.
Yes I am talking about when populations were way lower but my point is with modern governance and technology it’s totally possible to have clean natural bodies of water for swimming again.
The only time that would be was before the city existed. Sure we got carried away with chemicals in the 19th and 20th century, but before then a large portion of a city’s trash and poop ended up in the nearest body of water. Just dumped straight in. Don’t forget all the horse poop people had to deal with when that was the main transport system.
There was a reason diseases like cholera used to be such an issue.
Honestly I’d rather swim in the Hudson next to Manhattan today than in 1750.
Yes I am talking about when populations were way lower but my point is with modern governance and technology it’s totally possible to have clean natural bodies of water for swimming again.