HERRIMAN, Utah -- Algae blooms have forced Herriman City officials to close a popular reservoir.
Blackridge Reservoir attracts hundreds and sometimes thousands of people to its shores but algae blooms have caused the city to worry about toxicity levels in the water.
Spokesperson for the city, Tami Moody said the aerators underneath the reservoir became clogged last week.
"We fixed it but the algae grew so fast overnight," said Moody.
The city did some preliminary tests that came back showing there is four to five different kinds of algae in the water.
"The concern is if those different kinds grow, and clone there might be a toxicity in the water that could protein ally be unsafe for swimmers; so in an abundance of caution we are closing this for now and when the final results come back from a lab we sent the samples to in Florida, then we will know what to do next."
A triathlon is scheduled to use the Blackridge Reservoir ok Saturday for its swim leg of the race. But organizers are instead going to use the S.L. Sorenson Rec Center near by.
"We were looking forward to swimming in here, we have been training for awhile in the reservoir and it would be ideal but we are glad they are thinking of our health first and changing the location," said triathlete Michelle Conover.
