What Does Little Falls have in Common with the Paris Olympics?

The question everyone is asking at the Olympics is whether the Seine is safe for swimming. We might not be hosting the Olympics, but residents in the Little Falls watershed have the same question about our creeks. 

And just like in Paris, some weeks the answer is YES, and some weeks it's No. While the Seine passed allowing swimming for the triathlon event yesterday, no one should swim in the Little Falls or Willett Branch creeks this week, as all testing sites FAILED to meet the MD standards for safe water play. Future Olympians are cautioned to check our weekly fecal bacteria reports before heading into the creeks to play. If people do play in the creek, make sure not to drink the water and to wash well before eating.

Where does the Fecal Bacteria come from?

There are three main sources for fecal bacteria in our creeks - wildlife, dog poop, and sewer leaks. Some level of fecal bacteria from wildlife is natural and does not present a risks to humans. However, dog poop left on the ground to flow into the creek when it rains, or leaking sewer pipes can elevate the levels to where they are a health hazard.

What are the Risk?

If ingested, fecal bacteria can cause vomiting, diarrhea and other gastrointestinal concerns. The bacteria can also cause ear, eye, respiratory and wound infections.

Willett branch has known sewage leak problem

While the fecal bacteria levels in the Little Falls Branch vary from week to week, the Willett Branch has a known sewage leak and has not meet the MD State Standards for water play since LFWA began our testing program in 2021. After the rain on Tuesday, the fecal levels at our two testing sites on the Willett Branch exceed the maximum number our tests can count.

The Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection is aware of the problem. The fecal bacteria is know to be human which means that waste water is being dumped into the stormwater system instead of going to the water treatment plant for processing. For the past 18 months they have been working on finding the source. The most recent update explains that it being pumped into the storm drain system in the vicinity of the Bethesda Metro This points to a improperly plumbed waste water pipe in the buildings in this area. We are in contact with MoCoDEP on this and will update people when we hear anything new.

test site locations

We test five sites along the Little Falls Branch and two sites on the Willett Branch. The sites were selected as they are known areas for play with easy assess to the parkland around the creeks.