[fishingnoob]

http://www.wral.com/high-levels-of-e-coli-force-three-falls-lake-beaches-to-close/13743755/

QUESTION: Im taking the boat out this weekend at falls with friends. They want to go tubing, etc (ill be fishing too of course )


Do you think this is localized to the beach areas they closed? (kids poopin' in water???? WHY does this happen??? )

Would you head way downstream or upstream from the popular beaches they closed?
Is distance from beaches more important that upstream/downstream?

Or do you think the whole lake is fubar right now???

 

[fishingnoob]

Oh forgot to mention.... The levels were 2x to 10X above EPA standards!

 

[sundrop]

This is a common problem at Falls, it is from run off from the heavy rains, septic, parking lots etc. They close the beaches because that is where people gather and "soak" in the tainted water and it settles in the sand so it is more concentrated. The thought of getting a mouthful or having it up my nose tubing grosses me out, but the chances of sickness are really not that high in the open waters of the lake. Fisteria is a larger concern to me in summer waters.

 

[fishingnoob]

Does this tend to be a spike after heavy showers? How long does it typically take before levels return to normal?

 

[misterslowride]

This happens every summer at many lakes in the area, Jordan, Wheeler and Falls come to mind but I'm sure others test over the limit as well. Usually over in a week.

 

[speckhunter80]

Brent, pfiesteria is really not a health concern to humans for incidental contact. Even if you were passing thru a bloom your exposure would be minimal. Now if you were to stand there and swim and rub those dead fish against your bodies that potentially might be harmful. If you see a fish kill with sores just stay away for the first 48 hours.

 

[speckhunter80]

E. coli is similar to the caged canary in the coal mine in that it is an indicator that the possibility of bad "bugs" can be in the water. Since it is to hard, to expensive and to time consuming to test for every water borne pathogen; scientists, regulators, public health officials use E. coli. The presence of E. coli does not guarantee the presence of the really bad "bugs" but the really bad bugs are not there without E. coli being present.

A long term study was done in the 80's of the E. coli levels behind Rogers Bay KOA on Topsail Island. Now, logic would tell you that levels would be elevated in the warm months due to more people using the failing septic systems at the campground and warmer water temps creating a better environment for the E. coli however that was not the case. The levels tripled and quadrupled over the winter....the culprit was all the waterfowl that migrated in and lived in the ponds behind the campground during the winter.