CLEVELAND -- Water conditions at Edgewater Beach are safe for swimming again after storms forced a sewage overflow into Lake Erie earlier this week.
The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission confirmed that bacteria levels in the lake have subsided, making the water safe for entry again Thursday.
The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District said in a news release issued Thursday morning that samples were taken from 10 locations near Edgewater Park on Wednesday morning. Those samples yielded bacteria levels below the recreational threshold mandated by the state Environmental Protection Agency.
Concerns about the water's safety surfaced ahead of this weekend's USA Triathlon, which is scheduled to take place at Edgewater Park. The swimming portion of the event will be held in the lake off Edgewater Beach.
Heavy storms ripped through the area overnight Tuesday, forcing 130,000 gallons of raw sewage and storm water to overflow into the lake. Edgewater Beach was closed to swimmers Tuesday and Wednesday.
The regional sewer district says it's continuing to monitor the water quality with increased sampling.
"In addition to our standard sampling at Edgewater, we have added four additional shoreline sites and five off-shore. We increased monitoring at these site to twice daily and are also monitoring lake currents and meteorological data," Scott Broski, superintendent of environmental services at the sewer district, said in a news release. "This intensive sampling plan allows the Sewer District’s environmental staff to thoroughly assess the water quality across the entire face of the beach."
More than 5,000 athletes and 10,000 spectators are expected to be in town for this weekend's triathlon.