Cyanos Activity August 23

Water is clean for recreation.

Disclaimer: The information presented below reflects conditions throughout the lake and may differ from conditions on specific shorelines. For information regarding beach closings please contact the Torrington Area Health District or local town officials.

Water clarity at Center Lake declined by 0.5 meters to 2.55 meters, but North Bay declined very slightly to 3.45 meters.  All North Bay stations (5) had water clarity >3 meters, while all remaining parts of the lake (9 stations) had clarity readings of <3 meters with a gradual decreasing trend from north to south such that our southernmost station in the lake (South Bay) had poorest clarity of 2.3 meters.  Cyanobacteria numbers increased to over 20K at Center Lake.  Three was less cyanobacteria in North Bay where numbers increased to 11K.  Dissolved oxygen in surface water was between 7.2 mg/L and 9.0 mg/L, with most stations having surface DO >8 mg/L.  Several (15) stations had supersaturated DO in surface water indicating active phytoplankton photosynthesis is occurring.  Cyanobacteria observed in samples were healthy and buoyant suggesting that cell numbers may continue to increase.  Deepest water of 6 meters was generally anoxic (5of 6 stations with that depth) but water at 5 meters was generally well oxygenated lake-wide with only 2 of 15 stations showing anoxic water at 5 meters.  Lake surface water temperatures increased slightly since the last visit, with slightly more of an increase in North Bay than Center Lake.

Bantam Lake, CT 2017 Cyanobacteria Cell Count and CT DPH 2017 Recreational Waters Category Guidelines (Green = Safe, Yellow = Caution, Red = Posted Advisory)

Bantam Lake, CT 2017 Secchi Depth

Data is collected and analyzed by Northeast Aquatic Research, who is contracted by Bantam Lake Protective Association.