Source Information
In the Spring of 2022, the NC Division of Water Resources partnered with community volunteers to sample a highly recreated swimming hole. This is part of the Division’s larger effort to engage community partners to aid in development of a science based recreational water quality monitoring program in the Western Region of the State.
There is currently no water quality standard for E. coli in North Carolina; however, in 2022 NC Department of Health and Human Services provided recommended primary and secondary recreational values for all recreational waters. 126 MPN/100 mL is being used to communicate whether an increased exposure risk may be present for primary recreational activities (swimming/snorkeling) and 886 MPN/100 mL for secondary recreational activities (kayaking, tubing, fishing) in all inland waters.
Sites are sampled for E. coli once a week from May to September and analyzed at the Division’s Asheville Regional Laboratory using Colilert-18 methodology. Results are available the next day.
A site will be marked red when the result exceeds the primary recreational value of 126 MPN/100 mL and green when the most recent sample value is 126 MPN/100 mL or below. All recreators should be aware results are preliminary and, while posted as soon as available, represent data that is a day old and should only be used as guidance when assessing exposure risk as bacteria levels can change at any time. The Division always recommends following the Department of Health and Human Services guidelines for recreating in natural waters, which can be found at epi.dph.ncdhhs.gov/cd/water/prevent/html. To obtain the historical data or to find out more information, please contact the Division of Water Resources Asheville Regional Office via email at mikal.willmer@deq.nc.gov
