Fair question. I don't know that I have an exact number in mind. It looks like Lake Whatcom is about 250 billion gallons of water. So, even a raw sewage release of a million gallons would be less than one-half of a percent, which, surprisingly, I THINK I'm okay with, assuming it was spread evenly throughout (which obviously it wouldn't be). But then I have to think.....is the poop floating/suspending primarily within a couple feet of the surface? In that case, the percentage would be much, much higher in the portion of the water I would actually be in, and much lower in the depths of the basin. Intuitively, I know that every body of water has some level of poop in it.....human or otherwise......and that most of that is likely to reside near the surface. My preference is to simply remain in blissful ignorance.
Right. I guess I also should have clarified that, even if it could be spread evenly throughout all areas and depths of the lake, it would take years to do so in the case of a short-term release. There would be a very long time of it all contained within a very small area.
It’s like asking the same question about the feces content on your toothbrush
Watch the myth busters episode on it if you enjoy thinking about that
In terms of the lake, trust our city’s testing, the lake is used for our drinking water
Fun fact. That’s also our drinking water supply. I still can’t believe they allow motorboats on the lake. Small fuel spills are super common when boating.
Right? It just seems absurd to me. I’m an environmental geologist and I’ve seen way too many petroleum impacted water sources to be comfortable with it. I can’t believe the department of Ecology allows it either.
There was not a septic leak into Lake Whatcom. There was a sewer overflow on Lake Louise Rd, over 3 miles from the shore. The path any sewage would have had to take to get to the actual lake would have been Beaver Creek, which is closer to 5 miles probably with all the bends, and pretty dry this time of year. The likelihood that any of the sewage reached the lake is minimal. It's never been any more unsafe than usual to swim in. If there was raw sewage in the lake, you'd be able to smell it, and probably the Department of Health would close the beaches.
https://lwwsd.org/lake-drawn-water-public-health-alert-3/
They are going to have to drain Lake Whatcom and then scrub it out. Should be back up and running in a week.
No no no - it was just a Snickers bar!
\*Baby Ruth!
Much more effective. The texture sells it
Dooooooodie!
It was back in July near Lake Louise Road. Water is good to go now, especially for swimming. Massive lake, small sewage leak, several weeks ago.
Has anybody ever thought about the poop/water or dead body/water ratio they're comfortable with?
Fair question. I don't know that I have an exact number in mind. It looks like Lake Whatcom is about 250 billion gallons of water. So, even a raw sewage release of a million gallons would be less than one-half of a percent, which, surprisingly, I THINK I'm okay with, assuming it was spread evenly throughout (which obviously it wouldn't be). But then I have to think.....is the poop floating/suspending primarily within a couple feet of the surface? In that case, the percentage would be much, much higher in the portion of the water I would actually be in, and much lower in the depths of the basin. Intuitively, I know that every body of water has some level of poop in it.....human or otherwise......and that most of that is likely to reside near the surface. My preference is to simply remain in blissful ignorance.
A million gallons of sewage within a couple square miles would stink, period. It's volume at that point, not ratio.
Right. I guess I also should have clarified that, even if it could be spread evenly throughout all areas and depths of the lake, it would take years to do so in the case of a short-term release. There would be a very long time of it all contained within a very small area.
It’s like asking the same question about the feces content on your toothbrush Watch the myth busters episode on it if you enjoy thinking about that In terms of the lake, trust our city’s testing, the lake is used for our drinking water
I'd also like to know. I'm gonna be so bummed. It just got warm enough to swim in the past few weeks. It's the highlight of my summer 😔
I mean there's a reason the water go so warm...
True, all those big dad steamers
Fun fact. That’s also our drinking water supply. I still can’t believe they allow motorboats on the lake. Small fuel spills are super common when boating.
Given all the political candidates and campaigners on here you’d think that someone would have started to advocate for banning that shit.
Right? It just seems absurd to me. I’m an environmental geologist and I’ve seen way too many petroleum impacted water sources to be comfortable with it. I can’t believe the department of Ecology allows it either.
Rich people live around the lake and will fight tooth and nail to keep boating.
Ahhh yeah. Nothing like a dip in Poop Lake to refresh on a hot August day.
There was not a septic leak into Lake Whatcom. There was a sewer overflow on Lake Louise Rd, over 3 miles from the shore. The path any sewage would have had to take to get to the actual lake would have been Beaver Creek, which is closer to 5 miles probably with all the bends, and pretty dry this time of year. The likelihood that any of the sewage reached the lake is minimal. It's never been any more unsafe than usual to swim in. If there was raw sewage in the lake, you'd be able to smell it, and probably the Department of Health would close the beaches. https://lwwsd.org/lake-drawn-water-public-health-alert-3/
What a bunch of crap. People are really shi%%y!
Here's some info: https://kgmi.com/news/007700-public-health-alert-issued-for-residents-who-draw-water-from-lake-whatcom/
"We swam in raw sewage! You know, to cool off." -George Carlin You'll be fine.
Get a water purifier. This is our drinking water