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Serious Stuff
Demorest water in trouble
PC Magazine
By Lacy Galtere
In 2000, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division released a report about the dangerous levels of fecal coliform, a type of ecoli bacteria that originates from fecal matter, in the Soque River. Of the components studied, dissolved oxygen content, the number of bacterial colonies, and macro invertebrates are all on the top priority list. Without sufficient oxygenated water, fish and many other forms of life cannot survive where bacteria can. High temperature and chemical content of the water also allows for cultivating of bacteria and the study of different types of macro invertebrates can lead us to discover exactly what’s happening to not only our closest waterway, but what serves as Demorest’s source of drinking water as well.
Duncan Hughes, coordinator for Soque River Watershed Association and dean of the Environmental Horticulture Department of North Georgia Technical College, and his students have partnered with Piedmont to collect samples. So far, the state has listed the main stem of the Soque as an impaired river, finding that it does not meet state water quality standards. Because the levels of bacteria were so alarmingly high and there were so many different kinds of ecoli present, the EPA suggested not just testing for the more specific fecal coliform, but testing for the more general ecoli in an attempt to see just how bad the river is infected. According to Hughes’s samples, the Soque River presently contains, on average, more than 200 colonies of bacteria per 100 ml of water.
What is extremely breathtaking is the fact that when it rains, some of these levels of bacteria rise from about 100 colonies to about 2400, or worse 24,000. According to the EPA, 126 colonies are considered “safe”. That means, when it rains, the bacteria colonies are 24-240 times what is technically considered to be safe colonies of bacteria living in the water that is piped to Habersham County for drinking.
The Soque River is a source of life for Demorest and other neighboring cities and it gives life to the surrounding ecosystem. Without it, all of North Georgia and South of the Chattahoochee, which feeds to Atlanta, will be come unbalanced, influencing the possible endangerment or extinction of various species.
As humans, we must realize that we are not the only ones affected by our mistakes. We must comprehend that we are not the only ones in existence. We must understand that everything we do or don’t do has an overpowering consequence on the world in which we live. With continued community awareness and public education, the Soque River and other water sources might have a fighting chance at cleanliness.
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