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Bacteria testing in region shows acceptable levels for summer swimming
By Bob Downing
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Thursday, Jul 03, 2008
Camp Y-Noah had some bad-water days last year.
The swimming beach at the Akron Area YMCA camp was tested five times for bacteria, and three of those tests triggered closing of the beach because of unhealthy levels.
The state's safety limit for bacteria is 235 E. coli colonies per 100 milliliters of water.
The 2007 readings at Camp Y-Noah were 660, 550, 380, 150 and 22.
Nathan Brant, executive director of camping services, said Camp Y-Noah's problem was traced to Canada geese — as many as 48 of them — and their droppings that regularly washed into the 22-acre lake off Mount Pleasant Road in Green.
This year, the camp is using a new technique to keep the geese away from the swimming beach.
Twine has been strung along the waterline to keep swimming geese away from the sand.
Fences surround the beach on three sides ashore.
The twine is a simple, low-tech technique that appears to be a success.
''It sounds silly,'' Brant said, '' . . . but it works.''
Bacteria testing
The Beacon Journal reviewed health department records of bacteria testing at beaches in Summit, Stark, Portage and Medina counties. There are no public swimming beaches in Wayne County.
In general, the bacteria levels at the 30 area public and quasi-public swimming beaches are acceptable — unlike the high bacteria readings that are common on Lake Erie beaches after heavy rains because of overflowing sewers.
''In general, the beaches that we check are safe . . . and bacteria levels are not a big concern,'' said Tom Edwards, a supervisor with the Summit County Health Department.
Low bacteria levels are generally found at the two state parks in the area — Portage Lakes in southern Summit County and West Branch east of Ravenna in Portage County.
According to data from the Ohio Department of Health, this summer's bacteria levels at the Portage Lakes main swim beach on Turkeyfoot Lake in New Franklin and at the campground beach on Nimisila Reservoir in Green range from 1 to 29. At West Branch, the average bacteria level is 2 this year.
That data — along with information about the bacteria levels at the Lake Erie beaches — is available online at http://www.odh.ohio.gov. Click on beach monitoring.
The readings also have been good this summer at Summit County's two Metro Parks beaches: an average of 1 at Munroe Falls and 7 at Silver Creek.
Swimming in water polluted with bacteria can result in gastroenteritis. Its symptoms include nausea, vomiting, cramps, fever, headache and diarrhea.
When bacteria levels are high, the health departments advise operators to post advisories that inform swimmers of the elevated bacteria and advise against swimming. But swimming is not prohibited, and the final decision rests with the swimmers.
A high reading may drop to a low one several days later as conditions change and bacteria die off.
And the readings themselves are not real-time ones. It takes at least 24 hours to get samples analyzed for bacteria. Experts say that means that the results always are a day behind and too late to provide swimmers with an accurate picture of whether the water is safe.
Canada geese problems
Camp Y-Noah isn't the only inland beach where Canada geese are polluting the water.
They're ''a big challenge for every public bathing beach on inland lakes in northern Ohio,'' Brant said.
In 2007, they caused the closure several times of the members-only Lake Cable Beach in Jackson Township, said Kirk Norris and Todd Paulus, both staffers at the Stark County Health Department.
Lake Cable had the highest local bacteria counts in the area last year: up to 2,200.
The beach was tested 16 times last year. Seven readings exceeded the state limits, and four of those were in excess of 1,000.
Paulus said the problem was blamed on the geese droppings and the beach operators have worked diligently to discourage the birds.
''We've always had a goose problem,'' said Lake Cable general manager Tom Gibbins.
The lake had 50 to 60 geese last year when bacteria levels were high, he said, but only has one at the moment.
Gibbins said workers have been capturing and relocating the geese for more than 10 years, with 18 adult geese and 56 young relocated this year. With state approval, goose eggs are shaken to keep them from hatching and other tactics have been tried to scare away the geese.
Finding solutions
Camp Y-Noah's Brant said the twine idea came from his Portage Lake Kiwanis Club, whose members have been struggling for years to control the geese on their properties.
The twine is run about 6 inches off the ground for 40 yards along the beach. The geese are unwilling to hop or fly over it, he said.
The beach is now staked off with twine 21 hours a day and open for swimming the other three hours, he said.
Brant said the twine appears to work better than more costly fencing or more elaborate sprinklers and noisemakers with motion detectors.
The Akron Rotary Club installed portable plastic fences at its camp at Rex Lake in New Franklin to keep the geese away, he said. That cost more and the fencing was harder to get up and down. The results were similar to what Camp Y-Noah has had with its twine.
Monitored beaches
There is no state law mandating bacteria checks at public swimming beaches or outlining how often it should be done.
Two of the most-monitored swimming beaches in the area are those operated by Metro Parks, Serving Summit County.
The beaches at Munroe Falls Metro Park in Munroe Falls and Silver Creek Metro Park in Norton are typically checked for bacteria weekly during the summer.
''Our numbers are very, extremely low,'' said park district spokesman Jim Carpenter.
The park district pays for the testing, an expense of $20 a reading, he said. The testing is done by a contractor and the results are shared with the Summit County Health Department and the Barberton Health District.
Geese have not been a big problem at Munroe Falls or Silver Creek, he said.
The Summit County Health Department typically tests each of the nine public and quasi-public swimming beaches over which it has jurisdiction five times a year, Edwards said.
This summer's testing will get under way soon, he said.
In comparison, the Portage County Health Department checks the beaches at its eight campgrounds only once a year, spokesman Loyd Grove said.
The Medina County Health Department does beach testing only when requested.
Health department spokesman Don Stewart said Cleveland Metroparks was the only party in the county to seek bacteria testing in 2006 — at the swim beach at Hinckley Lake.
Testing was not done there by the county in 2007, but it will be done soon this summer, officials said.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
Camp Y-Noah had some bad-water days last year.
Get the full article here.
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