Water quality at most popular Northland swimming locations, especially those on the coast, met swimming guidelines last summer but some didn't, the common link being birds and farm animals.
So Northland Regional councillor Justin Blaikie said, after the council tested hundreds of samples at 58 sites, 16 fresh water and 42 coastal, between December 7 and March 8.
Blaikie, chairman of the council's Water and Land Working Party, said the tests, which looked for faecal bacteria, were used to gauge the risks of contracting gastrointestinal and other infections.
Ninety-eight per cent of 577 samples taken at 48 coastal sites had complied with the Ministry for the Environment's recreational bathing guidelines, with just nine failing to do so.
Subsequent microbial source tracking at six sites had revealed birds as the major source of coastal faecal contamination.