Waterlines at Blue Mounds State Park were being flushed with bleach Tuesday morning as park officials deal with another fecal coliform contamination within its water system.
Park director Chris Ingebretsen said he learned late Thursday afternoon, May 21, that one water tap tested positive for E. coli, the first positive test since the park installed a new, deeper well in November 2014.
Officials have been testing the water system quarterly.
“Routine testing didn’t show anything,” Ingebretsen said until the Thursday test.
Follow-up tests after Thursday’s discovery by Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) found the bacteria present in the entire water system, Ingebretsen said.
The bacteria’s presence halted all water usage from the park’s system over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, one of the park’s busiest camping times.
The park opened to campers in early May.
With Thursday’s discovery, park staff notified incoming campers of the e coli contamination through phone calls and text messages. When campers arrived, they were offered gallons of drinking water for use during their park stay.
“It really didn’t hurt our business,” Ingebretsen said.
For the weekend, the 70 spots in the main campground along with the 14 walk-in and two tepee locations remained occupied.
According to the MDH website, E. coli bacteria lives in the intestines of healthy people and animals. Most E. coli varieties are harmless but a few strains can cause abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhea and vomiting.
Tuesday’s flushing of the park’s water lines will try to pinpoint the E. coli source.
E. coli was previously discovered in the park’s water lines on May 12, 2014.
Officials thought the previous well was the culprit due to a cracked casing that allowed possible animal feces and the less likely human feces to leak into the water lines.
The old well has since been sealed and the new well drilled at twice the previous depth, away from a possible contaminated underground water vein.
The park will remain open, as officials work to eliminate the bacteria from its water lines.