Speaking of the Erie Canal, water quality

P

potter water

New member
Still C-razy has been mostly on waters in the inter-mountain west. Meaning that you can slip off the boat almost anywhere and get in the water and cool off with little fear of sucking some kind of micro-bug up your nose or some other unmentionable body part.

We are working hard towards an Erie canal trip this season. I seldom see mention by the canalers about jumping in and out of the water during their adventures on the canal.

My wife is a dedicated amphibian and would not be happy without a frequent opportunity to wet her webs.

Anyone have good info on the water purity in the canal system across New York State particularly??
 
I ran an overnight passenger vessel through the Erie Barge Canal system for many years. I have seen swimmers along the way many times, mostly kids along the banks. There is a good flow of water along the whole system, which increases during heavy rains. The water seemed cleaner in the more open lake areas, but more murky in the narrower canals that also had much less flow. Visibility is very limited through the water. I've never heard the results of any water tests. Our vessels were set up to swim from in the Caribbean, but we never had any swimming in the canal.
 
A quick search on Erie Canal water quality revealed on wiki travel:
Swimming in the canal is not an uncommon pastime for local school kids, but it's not recommended. In these rural communities, help is rarely close enough to save someone who gets into trouble. There can be a surprisingly strong current in some places, not to mention underwater hazards of various sorts. And, quite frankly, the water quality is poor.
Click to expand...

I ran thru the first several pages of bacterial studies, and generally e Coli contamination occurred after rain events--which would be expected--and is grossly related to turbidity of the water.

My recommendation for any body of water like this would be if you want to swim, don't ingest the water, avoid if you have any open cuts or sores. Generally when the water was clear--the levels of bacteria were below the harmful levels.
 
Unless there has been a recent storm with a lot of rain I would say it's your usual river water. The closer to larger populations the worse any river usually gets. There is good fishing for small mouth and large mouth bass up there so I would not think it's all that bad. On the eastern end you are running in the Mohawk river and thru Oneida Lake a big vacation area. As long as you are up there you might as well check out Seneca Lake and Lake Cayuga Lake they are connected to the Erie Canal by the Cayuga and Seneca Canal. Watch any of the finger lakes on windy afternoons they can get a little rough, storms can come up pretty quickly. At the southern end of Cayuga Lake is Ithaca home to Cornell University and a really nice Saturday morning farmers market accessible by boat. Nice area for sure. Lots of wineries dot the shores. Watkins Glen is at the southern end of Seneca Lake. Also a nice place to visit.
D.D.
 
m2cw

enjoy
inspect water before entering
avoid areas near drains
ask others along the trip, where they swim
do not consume untreated surface water
rinse off afterwards
enjoy
 
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