Town officials in Lyndeborough are keeping an eye on E. coli levels in water as the use of Goss Park for swimming increases.
Building Inspector and Code Enforcement Officer Leo Trudeau has been testing water at various sites in town, and reported some results at a the Select Board meeting Wednesday.
“It’s not drinkable, but it’s swimmable,” said Trudeau regarding the water sampled under Locust Lane.
According to a fact sheet from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services shared by town office administrative assistant Dawn Griska, “E. coli levels at designated swimming beaches should not exceed 88 per 100 milliliter (mL) in any one sample.” Griska, who has a background in extraction chemistry in environmental services, said that the level detected under Locust Lane was 71.2 per 100 milliliter, which is within the acceptable range for swimming.
“E. coli is a fact of life,” Griska said Thursday. “They’re bacteria, and they’re in the environment, foods, water and the intestines of people and animals.”
Trudeau and Griska said that the source of the E. coli found is not clear, and that it could be animal or human. Determining this would require DNA testing. Griska noted a child’s diaper could introduce E. coli to water if the child enters a swimming area.
“This makes keeping it out of a recreational swimming area a challenge,” she said.
Earlier, a source of the pollution was identified as a septic system on a property in Lyndeborough. The state Department of Environmental Services determined the system to be in failure, and repairing the septic system is not within the property owner’s means. The owner has failed to replace the system as ordered by the court, and the state has no authority to replace the system, but the town does. The town put the matter to voters in March, but warrant article seeking $50,000 in town funds to repair or replace the septic system failed.
“We’re looking at lots of tributaries that eventually flow toward Goss Park, which is also tested regularly,” said Griska.
In other news, the Select Board approved requests for four abatements of taxable values totaling $83,883.