SOLON — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is recommending against swimming at several beaches in state parks, including Lake Macbride, due to the presence of E. coli bacteria. Water at the beach was tested Wednesday, June 8 and found to be in excess of the single sample standard for E. Coli.
According to the DNR the bacteria standard for recreational waters in Iowa consists of two components: a geometric mean standard based on five samples in a 30-day period (with a limit of 126 colony-forming units of E. coli bacteria per 100 ml of water), and a one-time maximum standard based on a single sample (235 colony forming units of E. coli bacteria per 100 ml of water).
Beaches that exceed the water quality standard are posted with a warning sign stating, “Swimming is Not Recommended.”
The DNR’s Beach Monitoring website, www.iowadnr.gov/Things-to-Do/Beach-Monitoring, and Beach Monitoring Hotline: 515-725-3434, are updated every Friday from Memorial Day through Labor Day, but may be updated earlier or later in the week depending on the timing of holidays, sampling schedules, and the availability of laboratory test results.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria, found in the digestive tract of warm-blooded animals (including humans), has the potential to cause sickness and disease including diarrhea, urinary tract infections, respiratory illness and pneumonia, and other illnesses with “minor gastrointestinal discomfort” the most common symptom. However, the very young, the very old, and those with weakened immunological systems, may be at a higher risk for serious illness or death.
Elevated levels of E. coli were also found at: Backbone Beach (Dundee), George Wyth Beach (Waterloo), Lake Darling Beach (Brighton), Beed’s Lake Beach (Hampton), North Twin Lake West Beach (Rockwell City), and Denison Beach (Black Hawk State Park, Lake View).