WINONA LAKE — The Lilly Center for Lakes & Streams is working with the town of Winona Lake and the Kosciusko County Health Department after a high level of E. coli was identified in Cherry Creek earlier in the week.

On Tuesday, the Lilly Center for Lakes & Streams was alerted to a potential point-source pollution incident on Cherry Creek in Winona Lake.

A local educator noticed that Cherry Creek was off-color and had a foul odor. Specifically, it seemed to be flowing from a black pipe near the intersection of Chestnut Avenue and Columbia Drive, according to a news release issued Saturday by Lilly Center for Lakes & Streams.

Testing by the Lilly Center’s research lab confirmed dangerous levels of E. coli present at the source.

The Town of Winona Lake responded immediately to this incident and is taking steps to identify the source of the pollution and fix the problem.

The Lilly Center collected water samples upstream of the pollution source, at the
pollution source, and downstream of the source. On Thursday, September 4, the
samples had the following results.

The Lilly Center immediately shared these results with local partners, including the
Town of Winona Lake and the Kosciusko County Health Department.

The town began tracing the drain to identify where the origin of the issue is. Techniques
included sending a camera up the pipe as well as using tracing dye to confirm the
source.

[caption id="attachment_118727" align="alignright" width="230"] Map shows source points for testing. The southern edge of Winona Lake can be seen at the top of the image.[/caption]

Testing locations and results (and map) are shown below.

• 60 meters upstream of discharge: 1,000
• B Discharge pipe: 2,419,600
• C 60 meters downstream of discharge: 1,119,900
• D Lilly Center standard sampling site: 435,200
• E Mouth of Cherry Creek at Winona Lake 135,400

The E. coli safety threshold set by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management for a one-time sample is 235 MPN/100ml.

More information will be available at the Town of Winona Lake Facebook page as more
is known about this situation.

The Lilly Center for Lakes & Streams at Grace College conducts research, provides
resources, and educates residents, and collaborates with local organizations to
make the lakes and streams of Kosciusko County clean, healthy, safe, and beautiful.

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