One of my brothers…
Was a construction manager for one of the contractors on those digesters.
I didn’t hear any horror stories at all from him on those compared to the ones he told about the “Big Dig”.
cheers,
JackL
Hey!
don’t remind us, okay…
The MWRA was a success story. The Big Dig is a real PIG. Doesn’t seem to be a purse in the sow’s ear yet…
sing
Just a thot…
Remember Kramer swimming in the East River…yup–that was a good one!!
dirty is dirty
Clean “looking” water doesn’t really mean it’s clean and safe. There could be invisible chemicals and microb that kill you.
But dirty water is definitely NOT clean, and not safe. Where did the garbage come come? The same source that brought the visible garbage is also a very likely source of many of those harmful microbs!
So, while “clean looking” water may or may not be clean. Dirty looking water is definitely dirty.
Tannins and silt are harmless…
… but can make things look, and even smell bad.
It goes both ways.
It was in April…
… so, there were no power boats. It looked like some sewer has discharged its lovely load.
Uggh!
Sorry. I guess that’s no worse, there’s just a lot more of it when it’s the sewers. I keep hoping it’s going to get better. They dug up every street in my neighborhood in Quincy to replace the storm sewers and improve the over-flow problem. All that improvement has to have some effect.
Blue-green Algae
In the past two years, one young adult male and two dogs have experienced seizures and eventual death after swimming in local lakes and ponds containing blue-green algae (cyanobacteria):
http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/parks/safety/bluegreenalgae.html
Caused by farm- and home-fertilizer phosphorous runoff, blue-green algae blooms often compel city officials here in Madison, WI to temporarily close swimming beaches. By early July, I usually abandon the large and conveniently nearby lakes in my city in favor of smaller, isolated inland lakes or the Great Lakes, at least for paddles when I intend to get wet.
Giardia In Pristine Looking Strearms
Giardia comes from grazing animals upstream.
Some of the most pristine looking streams and lakes in the Sierra Nevadas are contaminated with it.
But you can use the water to make great coffee, since it will be boiled, anyway
Paddler Health Alert - Leptospirosis
This article appeared on the Moncacy Canoe Club Message Board in November 2004. I’ve posted the entire article as the original message is no longer on the MCC board for me to link to.
PADDLER HEALTH ALERT - LEPTOSPIROSIS
Date: Nov 22 2004,
Posted by Charlie Walbridge AW Safety Editor
“This past week a good paddling friend of mine was admitted to West Virginia University Hospital in Morgantown after three days of pounding headaches, severe muscle aches, and a fever of 104 degrees. He thought he had the flu, but initial tests gave early indications of kidney and liver damage. Further testing revealed that he had Leptospirosis, a rare water-borne bacterial infection. Antibiotics were administered intravenously and he was kept in the hospital for several days. He is now cured, and says he would have gotten to a doctor a lot faster if he?d knew about this condition. He also learned that another kayaker, an Emergency Room physician at the hospital, contracted the disease last year.
Leptospirosis is caused by water contaminated with the urine of infected animals. The bacteria have been found in cattle, pigs, horses, dogs, rats, and wild animals. Humans become infected through contact with water, food, or soil contaminated by their urine. The infection usually begins with skin contact, especially via mucosal surfaces like as the eyes or nose, or through broken skin. The bacteria survive in fresh water for as many as 16 days and in soil for as many as 24 days. The time between exposure to the contaminated water and the onset of sickness is between 2 days and 4 weeks. The bacteria can spread to any part of the body but the liver and kidneys are especially at risk.
Leptospirosis is a known occupational hazard for farmers, sewer workers, veterinarians, dairy farmers, and military personnel. It?s known to infect campers, swimmers, waders, and paddlers who use contaminated lakes and rivers. In 1997 a group of Americans who went white-water rafting in Costa Rica contracted the disease. In 1998 a number of athletes developed Leptospirosis after completing a triathlon in Springfield, Illinois. The event included a swim in Lake Springfield. An outbreak also occurred among those competing in Eco-Challenge Sabah 2000 in Malaysia.
My friend traces his infection to a late fall run on the nearby Little Sandy & Big Sandy Rivers. They came up after an intense local storm dropped 2 inches of rain in just over an hour. Many nearby roads were badly eroded. The rain actually fell on a very small area. The Little Sandy and Sovern Run were quite high, but the river at Rockville was moderate and at Bruceton Mills it was too low to paddle. Cattle ranching is a major occupation around here, and cows live on all the surrounding hills.
Symptoms of leptospirosis include high fever, severe headache, chills, muscle aches, and vomiting. It may include jaundice (yellow skin and eyes), red eyes, abdominal pain, diarrhea, or a rash. If the disease is not treated, the patient can develop kidney damage, meningitis, liver failure, and respiratory distress. Some people die; others have no symptoms at all and become carriers of the disease. Treatment includes antibiotics like doxycycline or penicillin, which ideally should be given early in the course of the disease. Intravenous antibiotics are required for persons with more severe symptoms.”
Aieee – parasites!
First giardia, then cryptosporidium, now this ugly beast.
Hey, is anyone else around here old enough to remember when you could ~drink~ wilderness water straight out of the lake?
–David
Add me to the list
of those who suffered a serious sinus infection due to rolling practice. Youghiogheny, below the falls, summer 1972.
Jim
I love it
You guys are making the Hudson seem pristine.
I’ve never heard one complaint from a paddler (and we all paddle with our fair share of wounds) ending up worse off after paddling in the Hudson. I remember when swimmers had to take antibiotics and cover themselves with vaseline or other goop to keep the water away from their skin.
It’s sad to read about other areas being so polluted, but I believe NY Harbor (and other big city waterways like Boston’s) got better (meaning non-toxic in this context) because of the number of river lovers willing to stand up (skull up?) and shout about, and vote against, the filth. I admit to not being one of them, being brought up to believe that the waterfront was a dangerous and toxic place, but I’m eternally grateful to those who had more vision.
Talking about very different smells
Tannin and silt smells I know well, and they don’t bother me.
Rotting flesh smells and sewage smells are another story. I choose not to paddle in those, let alone put my head under. You may choose differently.
Strong algae odors also make me feel sick, and if I feel sick I don’t enjoy paddling; therefore, I avoid those, too.
Giardia
Giardia has to be ingested to cause trouble. Just keep your mouth closed if you’re rolling where there might be giardia (anywhere).
Bacteria and viruses, OTOH, can infect through ear canal or nasal passages, which are harder to protect.
Back in early 60’s, was sculling on
the Charles. That was when clumps of raw sewage could be seen floating in the river. Strangely, I and other oarsmen rarely got sick or infected. Once, in the summer, I flipped my single scull about midway between BU and MIT, and had to slowly swim it back to the bank. When I got to the MIT boathouse, I took a LONG shower and cleaned out every bodily orifice as well as I could. Still, I didn’t get sick.
But when we were training on the much cleaner-looking Connecticut River at Dartmouth, two oarsmen took a brief swim off the dock, and next morning had GI infections.
Don’t be so sure
Have you seen recent studies of the concentration of metabolites of cocaine and birth control pills in the Hudson. This means the chemicals get in the water by being ingested by humans oxidized by liver CYP450 enzymes and excreted in urine, flow through the sewage treatment plants and back into the water. You are paddling in a sea of diluted urine.
Pikabike said:
“I won’t submerge my head in any water that is not at least a little translucent. All water gets stirred up and turbid after high wind and/or rainstorms, but places that are routinely opaque I refuse to do immersion in, and I don’t like paddling in them either.”
If you lived in much of the South and especially Southeast Texas, you’d miss a lot of fun. Waters are typically turbid or darkly stained with tannins and you are lucky to see your fingers if you dip your hand in the water. But, the water quality isn’t necessarily bad. The Galveston Bay complex, a great sports fishery and rec boating area rarely clears enough for your test. And, the surf in the upper Texas coast is most often sandy and very turbid. Saltwater fishermen pray for green water.
True, but
at least it’s a tidal river so gets flushed twice a day. Besides, urine is sterile. How’s that for rose colored glasses?
That’s a myth
Urine is not sterile. Not as bad as paddling in poop-loaded waters, but still…