Is the water polluted

gnome4766gnome4766 Member
edited December 2014 in General Discussion
So, I've recently started to train in a small lough. Now this lough lies on farm land and gets its water from a stream that runs across many fields of the farm where animals graze.
Being completely new to fresh water swimming I was wondering if it is a safe place to swim without the risk of catching some sort of infection.
So do any of you swim in a similar situation? Is there anyway I can test the waters safety?

Comments

  • loneswimmerloneswimmer IrelandCharter Member
    I don't regularly but I have (also Ireland) a couple of times. The biggest concern is run off into lakes after rainfall, of which of course we get a lot. It'd be worse in summer though, as there's more animals in the fields (as most livestock are in sheds for winter) and as the land is dryer the soil absorption is lesser and the runoff is greater. You'll get a concentrated inflow of effluent (which you'll likely know because you can smell and taste it). Water testing I don't know anything about. (You could check it it's a Blue Flag lake though that's only the larger lakes like Lough Derg, though I guess even Blue Flags aren't tested in winter).

    loneswimmer.com

  • Leonard_JansenLeonard_Jansen Charter Member
    If nothing else, I'd be worried about giardia if there are lots of animals around. Some of the other nasty things that I have to do preventative treatment on the horses for give me nightmares.

    See if you can weasel a prescription for amoxicillan from your doctor - there are a lot of things that it won't cure, but there are a good number of water-bourne bacterial infections that it will cure.

    -LBJ

    “Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” - Oscar Wilde

  • Yeah I was aware of giardiasis as I believe I caught it in the past while swimming near my local river.
    Thanks niek that's the exact thing I was looking for.
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