Public Beaches Near Weirs Beach
 

I am at Weirs Beach now and unfortunately, there is no swimming at Weirs Beach due to high levels of bacteria. Does anyone know of a nice place to go swimming around here? I think we are going to the place in Meredith today, but I am looking for other places for the rest of the week. Thanks!

Alton Bay now has a very nice beach for the public, and you can mini golf right there too:)

Ellacoya State Park
 

Try Ellacoya State Park in Gilford

Ellacoya State Park has potential...

http://www.nhstateparks.org/state-pa...ya-state-park/

Google map...

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...,0.144196&z=12

Second the suggestion of Ellacoya State Park in Gilford....about three dollars/person or so(?).

Besides swimming and a large scenic beach, the local flat roads are ok for bicycling, and the large creek that seperates the beach from the recreational vehicle camping park (field) is good for fishing.

Not Ellacoya State Park
 

I believe the Gilford Town Beach was also closed again Monday because of high bacteria count.

Question
 

Is this due to high lake levels, rain, and the leaching of septic systems? Or is there a problem with the lake?

Overall Lake Condition
 

Does anyone know if there is a website or report for the entire lake's bacteria levels? Also, are public areas at higher levels than open water areas and are the Weirs and Gilford levels an indication of the overall lake condition?

Current beach advisories
 

Here's a link to current beach advisories. Not sure how quick they are to update the page.

http://www.des.state.nh.us/beaches/current.asp

E. coli cause?
 

Looking at the advisories, many of them are E. coli outbreaks. Is this because folks are using the lake as their toilet or is there another cause?

Ellacoya is not Gilford Town Beach...
 

Gilford town Beach is located in Saunders Bay and Ellacoya is by the broads, so I would imagine the water quality is different. I would try Ellacoya before the Gilford Town Beach - have fun!

The beach at the Weirs has a long history of being posted with the NH DES signs which indicate it is unhealthy due to the e-coli bacteria. Not sure what the cause is; human waste, geese, shallow water, or what?

Interestingly, the State DES posts the bright orange, 12" x 12" signs on wood stakes hammered into the sandy beach in a few different spots, but it is totally up to the town if they want to close the beach or just run the beach with the signs there and let individuals decide for themselves. The signs remain until the water tests safe. The water is state property. The beach is usually, but not always, town property.



Believe that the 1500' long Gilford Town Beach, the longest beach on the lake, is open only to Gilford residents. Town employees are not welcome if they are not residents, and outsiders who wish to pay are not welcome, either. Basically, it is for residents only.

I believe it is open to Gilford taxpayers and their guests.

You forgot the Center Harbor Beach with the swings and things for little ones on land and the picnic tables under the overhead (god knows it hasn't rained lately and you might have to duck under)

Thanks for the replies. We did try Ellacoya first, and you could not swim there either because of high bacteria. We ended up going to Leavitt in Meredith and it was nice. There is a big swimming area and it wasn't crowded.

The hi e-coli count comes from several sources... ducks & other water foul, irresponsible people letting thier toddlers swim in dirty diapers etc...

Woodsy

Leavitt is a GREAT family beach!
 

My girls always ask to go to Leavitt Beach - even though we have our own beach!! They like the toys and the fact you can walk out forever and the depth remains about waist high. It's clean and never crowded!

Distressed
 

I may be a naive idealist but it bothers me that e-coli is so prevalent on the lake. This should be an issue that everyone - tree huggers, Donzi lovers, libs and conservatives, etc. etc. - should try to remedy, either through public forums or private practices. Has their been any recent new coverage of this problem?:eek:

E-coli and beach sand
 

Not directly related to Winni but the problem is not limited to fresh water lakes here.

E. coli Thrives in Beach Sands
By Andrea Thompson, LiveScience Staff Writer

posted: 04 June 2007 09:33 am ET

"The perils of a day at the beach aren’t always as easy to see as riptides, broken shells and jellyfish—the sand at the shore may harbor E. coli and other potentially dangerous disease-causing bacteria, a recent study showed.

E. coli is one of the main species of bacteria that live in the lower intestines of mammals, including humans—one person excretes billions of them in a day. Pathogenic strains of E. coli can cause vomiting and diarrhea.

Government testers look for E. coli as an indicator of fecal contamination at freshwater beaches all over the country, because the other microbes present are more difficult to detect (another bacteria is used to test for fecal matter at ocean beaches because E. coli does not survive well in salt water).

Beaches all over the country frequently close due to fecal contamination; a day at the beach can be ruined if septic systems overflow or malfunction, or if a lot of birds happen to be in the neighborhood.

Seasonal sources

To test exactly which strains of E. coli were sitting in the sands around Lake Superior, and whether any of them were potentially dangerous to humans, a group of University of Minnesota researchers collected samples and compared the DNA to an existing library.

Their results are detailed in a recent issue of the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

They found two broad types of E. coli in the sand: those “deposited more recently,” as team member Michael Sadowsky put it, and those “that have learned to kind of grow or reproduce in the sand,” he said.

The levels of both of these sources vary seasonally. Those that have become indigenous to the lake sands tend to be more abundant in the summer, when nutrients are more available and temperatures rise. Contributions from birds tend to come when they are migrating through the area. Fecal contamination from sewage can occur whenever there is a malfunction or overflow.

Importantly, the study found that very few of the E. coli present on the beach are potentially harmful to humans—other microbes that tend to travel in the same waste streams, such as Salmonella, are more of a worry to health officials.

But you likely wouldn’t get sick just from wiggling your toes in the sand, because most of these bacteria follow what Sadowsky terms the “fecal to oral route.” Which means you should listen to your parents and wash your hands frequently, especially after using the bathroom and before eating.

“Getting it on your skin is not going to be very dangerous,” he said.

Just watch what you swallow. "

from http://www.livescience.com/health/07...ach_ecoli.html

The wire story that I saw did not have the cause, usually something like that is caused by swimmers (in this case residents of Gilford) using the lake as a toilet.
Winni P, that's why I wrote Not Ellacoya State Park in the subject line to my post, so that no one would confuse the two. :coolsm:

E Coli in water
 

I have noticed alot more Canadian Geese up there last few years in the water and sitting on docks and beaches. Their *deposits* rival that of a German Shepard :eek:. Now I don't want to "Blame it on Canada" :rolleye1:.....but I would venture a guess that these guys may have a little something to do with the problem....

Canada Geese if you please - not Canadian!!
 

Common but annoying mistake....kinda like saying Mallardian Ducks:laugh: But you are correct they, the Canada Geese, do deposit enough "s%$#" in the lake to create problems.

Now you got it. Canada is invading Lake Winnie and has sent in their advance elite goose squad to contaminate the waters.:eek:

It may be those darned Drakardian Ducks as well...:)...

sorry...I always heard them referred to as Canadian Geese...thanks for the correction..anyway...they're just nasty in my opinion...to take a walk in a park anymore is like doing a slalom course..it has to be effecting the Lake..Last year where I stayed in Meredith..they provided a broom to get rid of what was on the floating dock...guess it should've been a bag and shovel..
Since I'm from a business background and not a scientific background...I'd just like to know how (hope this is not a stupid question) how do Lakes naturally purify or get rid of these harmful bacteria's? I mean, I look at Lake Winnipesaukee and it looks as clear as it did when I first came here 40 years ago...I always tell everyone it is the cleanest Lake there is..but then the last few years there has been an abundance of beach closures due to bacteria..and it certainly is not evident in the clarity of the water..
In fact I went for a couple of chilly swims the 1st week of August with no thought of if it was safe or not. I think someone else asked, but are the readings at Ellacoya or Gilford Town Beach an indication that say the entire Gilford area shoreline may be unsafe?

Swimming is safe today
 

The only beach listed HERE at the DES site on Winnipesaukee earlier today was Endicott Beach at the Weirs. It appears to have been removed from the list now.

That is just my luck! I love Endicott Beach and it had the bacteria signs all week. The day I leave, the bacteria is gone. :(

You are correct.............