As another wonderful summer passes us by, it is good to know that Choctaw Lake has had a very good water quality year. Our highest reading for the Cyanobacteria microcystin toxin was 1.18 ppb, and our latest microcystin reading was only 0.56 ppb. The advisory level for microcystin is 6 ppb for the very young or people with poor immune systems, and 20 ppb for healthy individuals.
To understand what 1 ppb is, consider the following for some real-world part per billion comparisons:
1 penny in 10 million dollars
1 second in 32 years
1 foot of a trip to the moon
1 blade of grass on a football field
1 drop of water in an Olympic-size swimming pool
So, as we enter the Labor Day weekend, feel free to frolic in the lake and enjoy our wonderful community.