City of Adelaide Council has announced the temporary closure of Torrens Lake for public health and safety reasons due to the detection of high levels of E. Coli.
The Council has placed signage along the waterfront restricting any activities involving direct water contact until further notice.
It says further testing will be carried out to monitor the levels of E-coli, which can cause serious illness.
“We advise members of the public not to have any contact with the water until testing shows it is safe,” the Council said in a statement.
Green Adelaide and SA Health have advised that, following an extended dry period, a recent discharge by SA Water from Kangaroo Creek Reservoir, combined with last weekend’s small rainfall event, has likely flushed high levels of organic material from the urban catchment into the river system, contributing to the significantly elevated E. coli levels.
“Further testing will be carried out to further monitor the levels of Enterococci and E-coli, and pending the results, the Torrens Lake will remain closed for secondary contact activities until further notice,” Council said.
“This latest incident again raises the importance of managing the River Torrens beyond the City of Adelaide’s boundaries, particularly upstream, to prevent pollutants and sources of contamination from reaching the Torrens Lake – an ornamental water feature primarily used to mitigate flooding in the western suburbs.”
