As tourists and residents venture out to swim in one of the many Lansing-area lakes this summer, they won't have to worry about contaminants that might be swimming with them.
In an effort to keep beachgoers informed of the water quality in area lakes and watersheds, samples of water from various locations are collected each week by the Ingham County Health Department to be tested for harmful contaminants.
"It makes sense for it to be clean; it is a matter of health," said Meghan Burns, sanitarian for the department and an MSU alumna. "The lakes and rivers are important to Michigan because they are such a tourism source."
The department staff, alongside the staff of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, or DEQ, perform the collection of samples at 24 points throughout Ingham County and send them to a state water lab. The DEQ specifically monitors levels of the E. coli bacteria which, if ingested, produces a toxin that causes an intestinal illness.
Rebecca Douglas, a Lansing Community College sophomore who works at the Ingham health department, said people should not be exposed to E. coli.
"If the levels of E. coli get above a certain count, you should be nowhere near it," she said.
Environmental health specialist for DEQ Rene Franco, said in the six years that he has worked for the department, concerns about water quality have been addressed.
"People call us often and ask if the area they are about to use is OK," he said. "After testing an area, we put up a sign or some other way to let people know things are OK."
Bob McCann, spokesman for the DEQ, said problems with water contamination occur due to outdated sewer systems in communities near a water supply.
"Basically, a lot of older sewer systems use a pipe that is split in half - a half is used for sewage flowing to the waste water treatment plant and half for storm water runoff to a body of water," he said. "If it rains really hard, the water side will overflow and mix with the sewage side, and you have a problem when it reaches a lake or beach."
The DEQ works with the communities still using these systems by offering grants and low-interest loans to fund an update.
"You can look back a few years to anyone from Metro Beach on Lake St. Clair when there were years that the beach was closed more than open because of the E. coli in the water," McCann said. "It gets ingrained in your head that these places will never be clean."
McCann said the department's Web site provides people with real-time information about water quality.
Lori Langone, research specialist for the MSU Tourism Resource Center, said water quality impacts tourism in the state, an industry that is important to Michigan.
"Our lakes and rivers are of crucial importance because they are one of our biggest draws," she said. "It is important to keep these resources in a fairly pristine state."
For more information on beach closures and water quality, visit www.deq.state.mi.us/beach.
