Blue Mounds State Park attempts to kill E. coli in water; awaits test results

Workers at Blue Mounds State Park have added chlorine to the park's water system to rid it of E. coli bacteria by Memorial Day weekend.

A Minnesota Department of Health test showed E. coli bacteria present in the Luverne, Minn., park's water system for the office and main campground on May 12. That made it unsafe for drinking or consuming.

Park personnel added chlorine on Monday, aiming to kill the bacteria in time for one of the busiest camping weekends of the year. The more than 70 camp sites at Blue Mounds State Park's main camping area are booked solid.

Results of the second test taken Monday afternoon are expected late Tuesday afternoon.

"In the interim, we have signed all our water spigots so people know not to drink it," Park Manager Chris Ingebretsen said. "We informed all of our campers who had reservations last weekend. We reduced our camping rates to what we charge typically when showers aren't on. And we are providing bottled water for drinking to any campers that are here."

The contaminated supply is one of two water systems at the park. The water system supplying water to the picnic area and the small cart-in camp area and group camping site is not affected.

Ingebretsen said it is unclear if the bacteria found at the main campground is just in the water system, or its entire well and ground water source.

"If it's in the water system, meaning the well casing, the pipes, the spigots, that's something that we can treat and that's what we're attempting to do," he said. "If we still find bacteria in the system after yesterday's testing, most likely then it is in the well and then we'll have to look at some much more drastic approaches to correcting it — looking for a different water source or a new water supply basically."

The Minnesota Department of Health tests the park's water supply every spring, after water is shut off in the fall.

"Anytime you're opening up a water pipe, you have the risk of getting bacteria into the system. So that's one possible source," Ingebretsen said. "The other would be some sort of groundwater contamination source, and there's really no way at this point that we can know what caused it."

E. coli can come from animal or human waste, "and that can just simply be from someone with unclean hands who was handling the water system," Ingebretsen said. "Or it can be from some sort of a pollution source."

The park attracts more than 100,000 visitors each year, he said.

"If we test positive after today, that'll impact pretty well the entire Memorial Day stay," he said. "It's incredibly unfortunate that we tested [positive] so close to Memorial Day weekend. But at the same time, I'm very grateful that we test in the spring and can identify these things before it actually affects somebody."

The main precaution people should take is avoiding drinking the water, Ingebretsen said. The park is providing gallon jugs of drinking water in the meantime. "But you also don't want to use the [contaminated] water for washing dishes, brushing teeth. Washing hands is OK, but you need to follow up with some sort of antibacterial hand soap."

Taking a shower is safe, as long as you don't ingest the water, he said. The Minnesota Department of Health recommends that infants and young children do not bathe in the water because their risk of ingesting it is high.

If the test results are positive, "we'll be informing our Memorial Day campers and taking the next step to deal with this," Ingebretsen said.

One water tap in the park's office tested positive for E. coli about six months ago, but was successfully treated with chlorine, he said. That office does not serve the public.

"In state park campgrounds, it's pretty common that our campers rely on the water that we provide," Ingebretsen said. "We're waiting to find out about our most recent test results, and we're hoping that they'll be negative."