Unsafe levels of E. coli have made it a bad idea to hop into the Chattahoochee River for probably the whole weekend, according to the latest water readings.
The United States Geological Survey's BacteriAlert system has a health advisory in place after a weather system brought buckets of rain and some tornadoes to metro Atlanta on Wednesday.
The runoff that made its way into the river is the main cause for the spike, Jason Ulseth with Chattahoochee Riverkeeper said Friday.
“They did spike very high immediately following Wednesday rain, and we’re seeing them gradually recede right now,” he said.
When rainwater overwhelms septic systems and drains through dog parks before meeting up with the Hooch, that’s how E. coli levels rise.
A previous unrelated spike a couple weeks ago was caused by a broken sewer pipe at a Cobb apartment complex that caused a dramatic increase in E. coli levels in a creek that feeds right into the river. It's since been fixed.
In general, he said, the closer you get on the river to Lake Lanier, the cleaner the water will be.
According data cited by the USGS, the Chattahoochee supplies metro Atlanta with much of its drinking water.
“We’re hoping over the next couple days you’ll see these health advisories being lifted from throughout the river,” he said.
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Find out how that creek was looking before the pipe was fixed: