The City closed Heart Lake to swimmers on Friday afternoon because of an
unusually high fecal coliform bacteria count. In fact, Jonn Lunsford,
the city’s forest lands manager, said the coliform count was higher
than he’s ever seen.
Lunsford posted signs at Heart Lake Friday afternoon and notified swimmers of the problem. He said they all left the water. Lunsford said fishing and other recreational uses are also discouraged as a precaution “until we have a better handle on the situation.”
Lunsford said he has no idea what caused the high coliform count, but it came from human or animal waste. He said the city regularly checks water quality during warmer weather. More testing will be done over the weekend.
Large quantities of fecal coliform bacteria in water are not harmful, but may indicate a higher risk of pathogens being present in the water. Some waterborne pathogenic diseases that may coincide with fecal coliform contamination include ear infections, dysentery, typhoid fever, viral and bacterial gastroenteritis, and hepatitis A.