avoid dirty lakes?

Hey so I just started dreading a couple months ago and spring is just around the corner I live in osoyoos BC, which has the warmest lake in Canada but unfortunately it is also one of the dirtiest. Would it be wise to just not go swimming in this particular lake? I mean ive seen some dreadies swimming in it before but I've also seen schools of dead fish floating around.
updated by @jordan-koopa: 02/14/15 08:23:01AM

Is it dirty because of chemicals, or eutrophication? That is the big question. If there are chemicals then you should absolutely not swim in it locks or no locks. That's just dangerous.

If it's just dirty with pond scum, then the extra nitrogen should not hurt your locks. You'll just want to be extra attentive when you wash them afterwards. Pond scum is a bacteria that grows into those huge algal blooms that tends to kill everything in the lake because sunlight no longer makes it's way under the water.

If I were you, I'd look into the surrounding area. Find out what watershed you are living in. Then look into whether or not there are factories along that main river/body of water, or if there are any upstream on any tributaries to that body. Most ponds are fed by underground springs. They still count as part of the watershed.

If fish are dead in there and there is no algae, stay out of it. I'd even recommend calling a wildlife resource and having someone come out and test the water. If the spring is contaminated, it could also be leaking chemicals into your drinking water.

If it is just pond scum, wash VERY VERY well afterwards. I'd even say to get yourself some lavender soap, or other anti bacterial soaps, to kill everything just in case. That kind of bacteria does not live in dry conditions, so once your hair dries, it'll be fine, but for the period of time that it is wet, you don't want bacterial colonies living in your hair. Not to mention that some of those bacteria do not die when conditions change, they just go dormant and then grow again when it's better suited for them.

I guess what I'm saying, in the end, is that you could swim in it, and be extra careful. Or be on the even safer side and find a new pond

Sorry about the rambling

if ists muddt=y then yea thats fine if its polutants id avoid it

if its a beaver lake that can make u sick

it all depends on what u mean by dirty

theres dirt wich is justtheearth.. and theres deadly toxic garbage that our wonderful corporations think is ok to dump everywhere in tye air we breathe and the water we drink..the things w depend on to live

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

mud wouldn't be killing fish. It would be making it a shallower pond, but not deadly to animal life. Some chemicals can make the pH balance out of whack, but it's not dangerous to swim in. You can swim in lake Tahhoe, but no animals will ever live there again.

It's a matter of what kind of chemicals are dumped. If it's a fertilizer plant, the nitrogen and phosphorous added to the lake won't hurt you. If it's a tanning plant, then the chemicals released will hurt you.

It also doesn't have to be a factory. If there are farms nearby, it's going to be nitrogen runoff. That will kill fish, but not you. It'll be causing algal blooms that will be the cause of fish deaths

its definitely chemicals. ill just stick to the creeks and rivers thanks for the replies

some endangerd fish have had die offs due to silt just from walkingthroughstreams but i think it was cause the silt messed up the eggs or reproductioncycles or something causinga decrease in numvbers

he did say..schools of dead fish

nit just a few but lots that is worrysoke and id avoid it just for the sake of not having rotting fish stench in my dreads

Baba Fats said:

mud wouldn't be killing fish. It would be making it a shallower pond, but not deadly to animal life. Some chemicals can make the pH balance out of whack, but it's not dangerous to swim in. You can swim in lake Tahhoe, but no animals will ever live there again.

It's a matter of what kind of chemicals are dumped. If it's a fertilizer plant, the nitrogen and phosphorous added to the lake won't hurt you. If it's a tanning plant, then the chemicals released will hurt you.

It also doesn't have to be a factory. If there are farms nearby, it's going to be nitrogen runoff. That will kill fish, but not you. It'll be causing algal blooms that will be the cause of fish deaths

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

No problem. Is the pond close to your house, or is it a drive away? You might want to contact a fish and wildlife service and ask if they could send someone out to take a look at it and take some readings.

Yeah, that's not due to the mud/silt itself, that's because the eggs got disturbed. But you've got a point about not wanting dead fish smell in my hair.

It's actually a really bad idea to go around stomping through streams if there are fish or other critters living there. You can kill off tons of animals by doing that.

or the Canadian equivelenmt of the epa (environmental protection agency) it sounds like a toxic lake that needs help to protect it

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

I wouldn't call the EPA out until I got results from a smaller service. They have bigger things to deal with in the meantime. If the results came back positive for a certain chemical, they would do more tests on the bodies of water surrounding the pond. They'd check tributaries and the watershed body. If the chemical wasprevalentin more than one area, which I'm sure it is, then I'd notify the EPA. They don't usually come out for simple water testing unless they already know that an area is contaminated. That work is either doneindependently, or contracted out anyway. So no reason to get the EPA involved until it becomes a bigger matter