Lake Monroe, Lake Lemon
Lake Monroe and Lake Lemon in Indiana, two public lakes that permit swimming, hosted nearly a million and a half visitors last season. With hundreds of people swimming in both lakes every day, the water is in need of testing.
How safe are the lakes? What’s being done to ensure the public’s protection? While government agencies are required to test and monitor lake quality, natural bodies of water will always have a certain level of contamination.
Water samples from various beaches are collected every week and tested for E. coli and other bacteria at the city of Bloomington’s quality control lab. Results are then sent to Monroe County Health Department. Testing for E. coli is an indicator of contaminants, detecting fecal contaminant from humans or animals. An E. coli infection can cause diarrhea and abdominal cramps. For safety, a test sample cannot exceed a count of 125 fecal coliform per 100 ml. Lake Lemon never exceeded a count of 61 last summer.
The health scare at Lake Lemon last summer was a high count of blue green algae called cylindrospermopsis. A health advisory was issued not to drink the water. After the advisory, results from two separate labs showed that the algae levels were safe and that toxins were not being produced.
June 2, 2006 6:29 AM | Category: Water Sports