[Closed] Swimming in lakes with the recent floods...

Really? With that level of dilution?

Dunno - but when I used to kayak we were always advised not to paddle with exposed cuts when water levels had dramatically risen...

Washes all the rats piss into the river?

Won't there be info on open water swimming websites?

There are other websites??

Washes all the rats piss into the river?

Washes all the sewage, fertiliser and rubbish into the river, never mind the rat piss.

[i]Washes all the rats piss into the river? [/i]

dunno about rats piss, road riding on monday a lot of the villages had a distinctly medieval smell to them 😯

Don't think it matters in Gaddings or Cranberry Dam.

Really? With that level of dilution?

Homoeopathic leptospirosis??

There are other websites??

yeah marks daily apple is the only one though

Does it have swimming advice on it Alex, because I don't like Apples.

I shall ask mustard for you since he's a water expert. I'd steer clear if i was you.

Hurry up Mustard!

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Does it have swimming advice on it Alex, because I don't like Apples.

Porn?
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Probably not leptospirosis due to the excessive dilution, I thought that was more common from the banks and stagnant pools?

What you will find is that a few extra farm anmals will have died and will now be floating around with you. Also all the ones that died recently (since the last flood) and have been lying on the bank decomposing will also be washed in along with all the farm chemicals and fly tipping.

I've been properly ill after paddling spate and flooded rivers. Better than the idave diet for fast weight lost but not at all pleasant.

On the other hand paddling flooded rivers is awesome. Nowt like breaking out into a chocolate brown raging torrent and dropping over that first horizon knowing that your friends probably can't help you, the river will be out to eat you alive and there's only one direction your going. Like riding a runaway express train. Worth getting ill for occasionally.

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h'allegedly h'allegedly

Having seen the amount of dead fish and swans in the Thames on previous heavy downfall, flood, sewerage treatment overflow situations, I'm going to guess it's not that healthy to do. Unless there's a kitten trapped on a box floating in the lake. In which case lob rocks at the box and put it out of its misery.

I would guess that it depends on the lake...

The main sources of risk during and after floods come from combined sewer overflows (CSO's) where sewers which carry both rainwater and foul sewage become overwhelmed by rain and flood out of manholes, emergency overflow outlets etc - that can then run anywhere, but is quite common in forming small pools in urban areas. I suppose that could run into a nearby lake, but the actual volume of water isnt likely to be that high compared to a lake (rather than a pond), so the dilution factor will probably reduce the risk, unless you are right by the source.

The second possible source would be polluted river water entering a lake, either directly as the river flows in, or through floodwater reaching the lake. This could be more problematic, as during heavy rain sewage treatment works can discharge untreated sewage into rivers, because they cannot deal with amount of sewage flow coming in (see above CSO point) and the dilution of fast flowing rivers is considered sufficient to avoid the worst environmental damage. Sewage treatment works can discharge pretty large volumes of this untreated stuff into rivers, which happens during and just after rain, so while it might not kill all the fish, i wouldnt want to swim in it especially near a big sewage outfall.

As i remember it, this is what made David Walliams ill. Leptospirosis, if i recall correctly, is mainly a confined spaces issue for people who go into sewers and pipes. Rat urine is pretty concentrated in that context, so less risk in lakes really, but i'm no doctor so maybe don't take my word on that....

So, some lakes will be fine, but some may have a risk depending on what flows into them from rivers or from surrounding sewer networks. Maybe avoid swimming near big pipes spewing brown water? But then, the pool is probably a bit warmer anyway.

If the beaches are suffering, then I'd guess lakes and rivers will be worse.

[url= http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/heavy-rain-threatens-to-pollute-nations-beaches-7707606.html?origin=internalSearch ]Heavy rain pollutes nations beaches[/url]

diluted dog shit too if the lakes etc. round here are anything to go by.