Broken main sends wastewater into Big Spirit Lake

A broken sewer main near Spirit Lake is responsible for untreated wastewater entering Big Spirit Lake.

The Iowa Great Lakes Sanitary District discovered the problem Wednesday, July 29 and reported it to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) at 3:15 p.m. Wastewater from the broken underground main was reaching the surface of the ground in a roadside ditch, then flowing through a tile line into the lake.

"A crew in the area was performing routine maintenance and noticed a spot of water in the ditch, investigated and found the problem," said Sanitary District Superintendent Glen Peterson, who said the district has no idea how long this could have been happening.

While the exact amount is unknown, the district estimates less than 100 gallons of wastewater reached Big Spirit Lake.

"We don't know when it started, but we found it and got it fixed," he reported. "It's a cast iron pipe, and sometimes they break. There was no obvious reason for the break."

The wastewater was entering the water at the southwest corner of Big Spirit Lake.

The sanitary district has shut down an upstream pumping station to end the discharge and made repairs to the main on Wednesday evening. The sanitary district has also applied lime to the ground around the break and where the tile discharges at the lakeshore to disinfect those areas.

The DNR has notified the Spirit Lake water supply of the discharge.

Fish caught in Big Spirit Lake are safe to eat, and bacteria levels are low at the lake's beaches.

DNR beach monitoring results from Orleans Beach (5) and Marble Beach (31) were both well below the limit at which the DNR issues a swimming advisory (235). Readings are measured in colony forming units of E. coli bacteria per 100 milliliters of water.

Swimmers and anglers should still follow normal precautions when recreating in any natural body of water. Swimmers and waders should rinse off and wash hands well after being in the water. While a fish's skin and scales protect it from bacteria, anglers should always properly clean and cook fish, no matter where the fish was caught.