HARD WORK: Construction workers attend to the Western embankment of Tempe Town Lake in 2010. Worries about E. coli in the lake have been assuaged and the Life Time Tri triathlon will go on as planned. (Photo by Serwaa Adu-Tutu)E. Coli levels have returned safe levels according to samples taken from Tempe Town Lake this morning,Tempe spokesperson Melissa Quillard said.
The E. coli levels in the lake had threatened the Life Time Tri triathlon that was scheduled to begin in Tempe at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday.
Samples taken from the lake on Thursday showed E. coli levels had been 10 times above the safe standard for swimming. The levels had been at 2,420 when the state standard for full body contact is 235, according to a press release.
Quillard said it is very common for E. coli levels to spike up after heavy rain, but the lake typically corrects itself with time.
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