WATER SAFETY

By Jeremy Roberts Environmental Health Director

Avoiding Water Borne Diseases

As the temperature begins to rise each year, many of us begin to look for ways to cool off. Whether it is the community pool, the city splash pad or a neighbor’s backyard pool, water brings much-needed refreshment.

Safety is a vital part of enjoying aquatic recreation, and drowning prevention is often what comes to mind. Using lifejackets, not swimming alone, and knowing your swimming abilities are all important measures that we should take to prevent drowning. Safety measures specific to pools include proper fencing, life saving equipment, and lifeguards for pools. Pools and splash pads use chemicals to balance the water chemistry and reduce pathogens (germs) in the water. If the water is cloudy and you are not able to see the bottom at the deep end of a pool, that’s a good indication that the pool chemistry is not being maintained and corrections need to be made before swimming. The water chemistry

of a pool should be checked regularly, preferably daily or more often depending on the use to keep the water clean. Ingesting pool water should be avoided.

Many of us prefer to swim or recreate in the many rivers, reservoirs, or lakes in our area. Unlike a pool, this water is not maintained by chemicals to control pathogens. One of the pathogens that has become more concerning in Utah over the past ten years is cyanobacteria, which causes Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). HABs are found both in fresh and salt bodies of water around the world. Harmful algal blooms develop when naturally occurring cyanobacteria in the water multiply very quickly to form green or blue-green water, scum, or mats. These blooms can produce potent cyanotoxins that pose serious health risks to humans, pets, and livestock. You can be exposed to HABs through skin contact, inhalation while boating, water skiing or jet-skiing, and drinking contaminated water. The effects range from mild skin irritation to serious illness or (rarely) death. Skin contact symptoms include skin, nose, eye, and throat irritation and difficulty breathing. Ingestion symptoms include abdominal pain, headache, vomiting, diarrhea, kidney damage, liver damage, or neurological symptoms. The effects can be more severe in children and pets.

Over the past three years Utah’s Division of Water Quality has been conducting sampling of different water bodies throughout the state. In the process of sampling, they have identified HABs in our area at Kent Lake, Panguitch Lake, Newcastle Reservoir, and Minersville Reservoir. In all of these cases the HABs appeared as scum or mats floating on the water’s surface. Last summer, the Division found HABs forming on rocks in the bottom of the North Fork of the Virgin River where it flows through Zions National Park. After sampling these blooms, they found the concentration of toxins to be high enough to pose a risk to humans as they disturbed the bottom while wading through the river, and warnings were issued. As with many aspects of life it is important that we understand how to minimize risks while still enjoying ourselves. Here’s how to minimize exposure to HABs when recreating at bodies of water:

• Don’t swallow water when swimming. • Wash hands with clean water before eating or preparing food. • Clean fish well and discard the guts. • Keep animals away. • Recognize the signs of a bloom, and when in doubt, stay out. Current HAB advisories in Utah can be found at swuheath.org/hab.

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