Swimmers warned about several NC river sites after heavy rain brings bacteria

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — While much warmer temperatures are expected later this week, swimming may not be advised in several locations across North Carolina .

Each week in the summer, Sound Rivers puts out their swim guide, advising swimmers about how much bacteria are found in popular locations.

“It’s pretty dirty, but that is fairly typical after big rain events,” said Eloise MacLean, an intern for Sound Rivers in Raleigh.

Recent heavy rainfalls have caused the Neuse River to swell in Raleigh, also bringing in elevated levels of bacteria.

“With all that runoff, it’s accumulating so many bacteria and pollutants as it’s rolling along the concrete, and then it ends up in our waterways,” MacLean explained.

Sound Rivers conducts tests at dozens of locations along the Upper and Lower Neuse, Tar and Pamlico Rivers. If a site has too high of a concentration of bacteria like E. Coli, it fails the swim guide.

“Failures are relatively routine when there are big rain events,” MacLean said.

In the latest round of testing, which was done last Thursday, the Neuse River at the Poole Road Canoe Launch was found to have double the EPA standard.

“The heat and the turbid water has definitely allowed these bacteria to proliferate in a way that is a little startling, but again, fairly typical after a big rain event,” said MacLean.

When a location fails, swimming and other water activities are strongly discouraged.

“The water can cause all sorts of different issues, a lot of respiratory stuff, a lot of gastrointestinal stuff, that’s the thing that I think we see the most often,” she explained.

The Upper Neuse River isn’t alone in elevated bacteria. Sound Rivers’ testing last week found more than 20 spots across the state had too much bacteria.

“I see, and our staff and our staff and all our volunteers see the Swim Guide program as really beneficial to the community so that we can keep everyone informed as to whether or not it’s safe to swim on the weekends,” said Katey Zimmerman, the Pamlico-Tar Riverkeeper for the organization.

The organization releases its swim guide every Friday afternoon during the summer months.

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