Officials with the US Forestry Service tell Now Habersham that this week’s water tests at Lake Rabun showed a return to normal “safe” levels of fecal coliform bacteria and the Rabun Beach recreation area is open for swimmers again.
Water at lakes on federal lands is tested weekly. Fecal coliform bacteria are naturally occurring but the government monitors and determines what levels are safe for swimming. A series of tests over a couple of weeks showed bacteria levels in Lake Rabun remained elevated prompting a warning to swimmers and fisherfolk at the site.
Fecal coliform grows in the waste of all warm-blooded mammals and is almost always present in area lakes in the spring and summer months. Over the past several weeks, some of the tests at Rabun showed significantly higher bacteria counts meaning the number of folks likely to get sick from swimming rose beyond the government standard and warnings were posted.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the normal (safe) level of fecal coliform in lakes is 200 cfu/100 ml – that’s 200 colony forming units per 100 milliliters of water. At that “safe” level, in fresh water, the federal government reckons eight folks will get sick out of every 1,000 swimmers which is an acceptable number as far as the EPA is concerned.
