Lorde told a D.C. audience she went swimming in the Potomac River.

Joel C Ryan / Invision/AP Photo

During a concert at The Anthem on Monday night, Lorde told the audience she’d been swimming in the Potomac River.

“I was thinking today, I was lying in the Potomac River,” said the New Zealand pop star from the stage, according to video posted on Twitter.

“I love getting to swim in water where I am playing. It makes me feel like I know you a bit better somehow,” she said.

Some in the crowd cheered and clapped, others jeered, seemingly horrified. One person shouted, “Don’t swim in the river!” Social media was not kind to the singer-songwriter.

In many cities, the fact that a celebrity went for a dip wouldn’t make headlines. In D.C., swimming in the rivers has been banned for decades due to sewage pollution.

But maybe Lorde wasn’t so crazy.

“It was a great weekend for swimming,” says Potomac Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks. “I was swimming in the Potomac this weekend, so I’m glad Lorde enjoyed her fun swimming and using the river. I think she should have the right to do that.”

While sewage overflows are still a problem for the the Potomac and Anacostia rivers, major sewer upgrades are making the rivers much cleaner. On many days, numerous spots on the rivers are clean enough to swim in, according to water quality data from a coalition of local environmental groups.

In fact, if Lorde went in the water closest to the concert venue — Washington Channel — she would have been swimming in a river with very low bacteria levels. The most recent testing, from last Wednesday, shows an E. coli level  just 61 MPN per 100 mL — that’s well below the Environmental Protection Agency’s threshold for safe swimming of 410 MPN per 100 mL.

Washington Channel is one of the cleanest spots for swimming in the city, passing daily testing 98% of the time over the past three years.

Many locations are frequently clean enough to swim in. Anacostia Riverkeeper

Numerous locations on the Potomac and Anacostia have had low levels of bacteria recently, due to the dry weather. Rain washes pollution in the the waterways from roads and sidewalks, and heavy storms cause the District’s antiquated sewers to overflow into the rivers. In dry weather, bacteria levels are generally much lower.

“Many of the places along the main stem of the Potomac and the Anacostia are perfectly safe for swimming, usually have upwards of an 85% pass rate,” says Naujoks.

While river swimming is banned within the District, many people still do it, but mostly from boats, as much of the shoreline is difficult to access. Some places in the river can also be dangerous to swim in due to strong currents. Without sanctioned swim beaches in safe areas, people sometimes drown swimming in the Potomac.

Potomac Riverkeeper and other environmental groups have recently begun a campaign to get the city to lift the swim ban, which District leaders have said they intend to do eventually. Naujoks says he hopes Lorde’s dip in the Potomac will raise awareness about the issue.

“This river should be available to everybody, says Naujoks. “We love that people are out there using, recreating in this river, especially when celebrities do it and bring attention to it, like Lorde.”

After the show, Lorde talked to fans. In a video posted on social media, they appear to have told her about the pollution. Her eyes grow wide and she says, “I think all is well, but now I know why you were laughing. I’m happy to be a D.C. meme.”

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