Shoreline sites around Lake Wairarapa are being sampled weekly for bacteria (E. coli) and toxic algae over the summer monitoring season.
Current toxic algae results will be uploaded to these sites from our weekly site assessments. This data will determine the overall ‘Can I Swim Here?’ status of these sites.
Other sites in the Wellington region use a predictive model to determine the bacteria status, however, these sites have only been sampled for a short time, there is insufficient information to use the model for determining the likelihood of bacterial contamination at these sites.
Notes and advice:
• Testing to date shows that Lake Wairarapa generally tends to be swimmable, except after rainfall.
• The golden rule of thumb is to always avoid swimming for at least 48hours after heavy rainfall, even if a site normally has good water quality.
• No data will display for ‘Latest E. coli Result’ however, historical E. coli data is viewable under 'Summer season monitoring history'.