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As summer vacation comes to a close and parks in the area will see less use in the upcoming weeks, so does the water quality testing at local beaches.
“Western UP Health Department does testing every summer at 17 beaches around the 5 county area at state and local parks to test for E.coli, which is a bacteria that’s naturally occurring in the water, especially after heavy rains,” said Ray Sharp of the Western UP Health Department.
The data recorded helps the department to monitor such levels and determine if any safety issues arise due to bacterial contamination.
Sharp said, “We’re at the end of our summer testing season. As we come up on the holiday weekend, people should know that after a heavy rain event, you can get elevated levels of E.coli, a fecal coliform bacteria.”
How does E.coli get into the water?
“It’s naturally occurring in the environment from animals or from failing septic systems or just regular flows from sewage systems after extremely heavy rains, You should be aware of that and swim with caution. Just as a general rule after a heavy rain, take extra care not to swallow water if you’re going to go in the water,” said Sharp.
This year especially has been a busy year for water testing with extra attention to bacterial levels required after the Father’s Day flood.
“We test 17 locations weekly around the region but this year we were testing up to 40 beaches, three times a week after the June floods because there was so much bacterial contamination for up to a few weeks. Now we’re back to regular business and wrapping up our program for the summer,” added Sharp.
Currently there are no beaches in the Keweenaw that are closed due to bacteria, but after heavy rain earlier this week, Sharp says if you do swim, avoid getting water in your mouth and wash thoroughly with soap afterward.
“People can get mildly ill from exposure to bacteria in the water. Some of those symptoms can include nausea, diarrhea, and maybe a fever,” he concluded.
