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rain and red tides
It is
December 22nd and Melbourne is experiencing a brief period
of heavy rain after a long dry spell. I was interested to
hear on the radio that the Environment Protection Agency (EPA)
was warning Melbournians not to swim on beaches near storm-water
drains.
This
is because of the threat of increased E.
coli
counts caused by large amounts of faecal
and other
material that is washed into Port Phillip Bay.
Although
E. coli are not disease causing micro-organisms, high
E. coli counts warn of the possible presence of disease
causing micro-organisms that may be associated with this material.
A lot
of the faecal material comes from dogs - so if you are a dog
owner please take a pooper-scooper whenever you walk your
dog. This will prevent dog droppings being washed into storm-water
drains and on into the Bay.
Keeping
our streets free of litter also helps to prevent plastics
and other material washing into the Bay via the storm-water
system.
Sudden
summer storms also wash large amount of nutrients into Port
Phillip Bay. These nutrients can cause blooms
of microscopic
algae called dinoflagellates.
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