Grand River no-body contact advisory lifted

Wed, Jul 9, 2008

An advisory to keep out of the Grand River was lifted this morning by health officials.

The no-body contact surface water advisory for the entire length of the river in Kent and Ottawa counties was issued July 3. The advisory followed the discharge of about 70 million gallons from the Grand Rapids sewer system into the river during heavy storms on July 2.

Ottawa County Health Department officials took samples of the river water at Grand River Park in Georgetown Township on Monday. The results of an analysis of the water received Tuesday afternoon indicated the level of the E. coli bacterium was 208 parts per 100 milliliters of water, which is nearly 100 parts below the state standard for designating the water as unsafe for body contact.

Tom Olson, on-site supervisor for the Ottawa County Health Department, said the sampling location was far enough upriver to expect that it would be even cleaner downstream.

More information on the water and beach monitoring program, visit the county's Web site: www.miottawa.org/SwimmingAdvisory/beach.jsp.