Cyanos Activity October 6
Reconsider activities and limit exposure to the water.
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 increased slightly at all stations but lake water was a brownish color throughout. Average water clarity across the whole lake
was 1.7 meters, with a high of 1.85m and low of 1.45m. Cyanobacteria numbers dropped considerably
from over 100K to less than 30K, however several areas of the lake had large
clumps of cyanobacteria near the surface.
The dramatic decline in cyanobacteria cell count numbers was offset by
increases in numbers of other types of plankton; Diatoms, Greens, and
Dinoflagellates, including the large filament like diatom; Melosira, and large
dinoflagellate Ceratium. Melosira
populations cause the water to be brownish as opposed to the green color caused
by cyanobacteria. Dissolved oxygen
saturation in surface water decreased dramatically from 140% to 102% indicating
that algae production has slowed to more normal levels. Surface water temperatures cooled by 4-5oC
across the lake. Surface and bottom
water temperatures were nearly the same indicating the whole water column is
mixing. No anoxic water was found at any
station (14); however declines in dissolved oxygen were still detected below 4
meters at several stations. Lowest
dissolved oxygen measured was 3.7 mg/L at the bottom of Center Lake Station. Deep water dissolved oxygen levels should
continue to improve in the weeks ahead.
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| Bantam Lake, CT 2017 Cyanobacteria Cell Count and CT DPH 2017 Recreational Waters Category Guidelines (Green = Safe, Yellow = Caution, Red = Posted Advisory) |
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| Bantam Lake, CT 2017 Secchi Depth |
Data is collected and analyzed by Northeast Aquatic Research, who is contracted by Bantam Lake Protective Association.
