The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation began an EPA approved intensive water quality monitoring in August 2000, in an effort to educate the public about water quality and to lend evidence for the hopeful retraction of current swimming advisories along the shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Ten historically recreational sites are sampled on a weekly basis and another ten sites of interest are sampled on a monthly basis. Several water quality parameters, including fecal coliform bacteria levels, are tested. The weekly sites are tested every Tuesday morning for data to be disseminated on Thursdays and Fridays (due to bacteria analysis- a process that takes 48 hours).
Check out the Office of Public Health's web page on: Health/Fish Consumption/Advisories for Mercury. |
