For most of the summer now Llyn Padarn has been infested by Blue Green Algae, a form of plankton that is toxic to humans and dogs. As such it has effected the use of the Llyn for recreational users and outdoor centres alike. The other week we received a letter from the local council informing us of the problem and what we could do to help reduce it.
According to the council it is main down to our washing habits, so despite looking like a smelly village Llanberis is very clean, too clean for the council. In the letter they asked that we minimise our washing, saying that the detergents are helping to fuel the Blue Green Algae Blooms.
Now I find this particularly hard to believe as the village has not really seen a rapid development over the last few years, in fact its population must be fairly limited, as there has been very little housing development over the time I have lived here. I am not saying that there has been none but the development has been limited to within the village boundary where there is very little room.
My questions is why has all of a sudden the washing habits of the village been responsible for the Algae? This is the first year it has appeared, so what is different? My belief is that it might be the sewage treatment works. There has been all sorts of rumours about mysterious trucks depositing stuff into the system, along with the fact that other water treatment works have failed and resulted in the contamination of drinking water in the North Wales area. SO maybe its not the locals who are suddenly washing their clothes more often, maybe it is something to do with the treatment of our sewage?
Who knows? Anyway, whilst it is crippling the recreational providers who use the lake, in a way it can be beautiful, if toxic to humans and dogs.