The St. Joseph Aquatic Park will remain closed Wednesday as crews work to treat the water after a fecal incident.

Jeff Atkins, Assistant Parks Director said the pool was closed Tuesday afternoon after a loose stool was found in the activity pool.

“In our case what we have to do is clear the pool and close it and then we have to hypochlorite the water,” Atkins said. “We have to raise the chlorine level in the pool to almost seven times the normal level and maintain that for a period of 28 hours.”

He said staff has been monitoring the chlorine levels throughout the night to make sure they are maintained. Atkins said staff monitors the pool closely for instances like this due to the potential for a contamination, especially contamination caused by Cryptosporidium (Crypto) which is extremely tolerant to chlorine. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Crypto is the leading cause of waterborne disease among humans in the United States. It can cause diarrhea, stomach cramps, dehydration, nausea, vomiting, fever and weight loss.

Atkins said staff follows CDC guidelines for matters like this.

“We take this stuff very seriously, we monitor it constantly and that’s why we act so quickly,” he said. “We want to make sure the public is comfortable coming to our pools and that’s why we react the way we do. That’s why we treat the pools exactly like we do, to ensure their safety.”

The Aquatic Park was closed several times last year for similar instances.  The pool is anticipated to reopen Thursday.  Atkins said if someone wants to swim before then Krug Pool is open.