Ecologist To Test Two Bella Vista Lakes
Study Will Look For Septic Tank Pollution
Last updated Tuesday, July 15, 2008 8:52 PM CDT in News
By Anna Fry
The Morning News
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BELLA VISTA - Bella Vista's lake ecologist will start testing possible septic tank pollution sites at Loch Lomond and Lake Avalon next month.
Darrell Bowman has been following up on a lake flyover study conducted by the Minnesota-based A.W. Research Laboratories in 2006. The $72,795 study identified possible sites of septic systems leaching.
So far, follow-up testing at other lakes and monthly water quality tests have not found any leaking septic, Bowman said. He has already tested the sites identified at lakes Ann, Brittany and Windsor. The flyover study didn't identify any sites to investigate further on lakes Norwood and Rayburn.
Concern about possible septic tank failure around the lakes prompted the studies, said Bill Davis, the vice chairman of the association's lakes committee. Some old septic tanks were up to state standards at the time, but those standards since have been raised, he said. About 70 percent of Bella Vista residents are on septic tanks, said Tom Wooters, the general manager of Village Wastewater, a private customer-owned company that provides sewer to parts of Bella Vista.
The association has found leaking septic systems were a nonissue that got sensationalized, said General Manager Tommy Bailey.
"If you look for the silver lining, then we do feel a lot more confident about our lakes now," Bailey said.
When Bowman tests the sites, he's looking for high levels of fecal bacteria and chlorides, the body's salts. The presence of both indicates septic tank leaching, he said. Other indicators are more algae, phytoplankton bloom and an odor.
The association has done monthly water quality testing for years and tested close to the shoreline in the past. Those tests occasionally yielded spikes in fecal bacteria, but those spikes were never accompanied by high levels of chlorides, Bowman said.
He thinks goose feces caused those spikes and now tests in the middle of the lakes, he said. If Bowman finds samples with high fecal bacteria levels, he'll take them to a microbiologist at the University of Arkansas who can genetically identify if the source was human.
Some people thought the lakes were polluted because they're productive lakes with lots of nutrients, which results in better fishing, Bowman said.
Dick Rooney, who frequently fishes, said all sorts of rumors about septic systems polluting the lakes were flying around when he moved to Bella Vista six years ago. He believes Bowman's test results are accurate and helped clear up the rumors, he said.
"I think our lakes here are very good and hopefully we can keep them that way," he said.
By the Numbers
Possible Pollution
Number of possible septic tank pollution sites identified in each Bella Vista lake:
Ann 2
Avalon 23
Brittany 2
Loch Lomond 71
Norwood 0
Rayburn 0
Windsor 11
Source: A.W. Research Laboratories Study Summary
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