CLEVELAND -- Lake Erie beaches are empty now, but by next weekend the summer beach season will be officially under way.

5 On Your Side investigator Ron Regan looked at what's being done to clean up Lake Erie.

Last summer, beaches from Lorain to Ashtabula were closed for 56 days, Regan reported. Bacteria levels were so high, it was unsafe to swim.

A 5 On Your Side investigation last year found one big reason for the bacteria. Raw sewage was reaching Lake Erie when 126 sewer lines from the shoreline to Garfield Heights overflowed, Regan reported.

Regan said since his investigation began last summer, more steps are being taken to keep the beaches clean.

Frank Greenland oversees new projects the sewer district said are stopping millions of gallons of sewage from being dumped into Lake Erie.

"We're looking at 350 to 400 million gallons of overflow reduction in just the past few years. We've got a couple more projects slated to go to construction this year. Three-hundred million gallons more, so we're making significant strides in reducing overflows," Greenland said.

The sewer district's Web site will tell you exactly where sewer lines are dumping raw sewage to provide an estimate of how much sewage is dumped each year and the most recent sewage overflows.

The district is also working to get beach water testing results out to the public a lot faster.

"These are rapid test methods that can get you results in an hour, two hours, a couple of hours. We think that would be a great advance in the science, particularly in notification," Greenland said.

Regan said there are some beaches to watch this summer; including Villa Angela State Park, which was closed 26 times last year; Edgewater Beach, which was closed six times; and Euclid State Park, closed four times.

This summer, new signs will be posted on beaches warning people if there's been a sewage overflow.

Environmental groups admit the improvements are steps in the right direction.

"The Northeast Ohio Sewer District has a pretty good plan in place for solving the problem. It's going to take a lot of resources. It's also going to take years to actually rebuild our infrastructure and renovate," said Erin Bowser with the Ohio Public Interest Research Group.

There is legislation currently being debated that would require even more stringent reporting of raw sewage every time it's released.

The sewer district said that will cost millions in expensive monitoring equipment, millions that could better be spent on programs to eliminate dumping.

You can check out the beach report card, here.