Diving concerns with contaminants in the water

[Rob J]

I am a public safety diver in Stanislaus County, which is in Northern California. I have been tasked with researching our dive teams concerns with diving in water that may have contaminants in it. Our area is heavily agriculture oriented with us having to often dive in irrigation canals and rivers, in and around farming areas. Some of these waterways are also in grazing areas for cattle. We are also asked to dive in many of the public use lakes in our jurisdiction. The contaminants that I am aware of and are concerned with are pesticides, herbicides, bacteria, viral, biological (blood bourne pathogens) and chemical hazards. We currently use basic scuba gear. I would like to be able to provide factual information on the benifets of using dry suits and full face masks to lessen the exposure to the contaminants that may or may not be in the water. Also I would like to be able to get information on what type of specific contaminants may be in our water. If you have any information I would love to hear it. This is my first post so I hope this was done correctly.

Thanks,
Rob Jackson

 

[DannyBoy]

Hi Rob,
There is a good article in the latest issue of Immersed magazine which discusses the issue of diving in contaminated water. The author discusses research done by Trelleborg/Viking, which looked at safe exposure times to various chemicals when wearing 3 different models of Viking drysuits. The author cautions that extrapolating Viking data to similarly-made drysuits from other companies isn't valid, but I think the numbers presented give a good rough estimate of the hazards of contaminated-water diving. The chart the author uses would make a compelling argument in favor of getting your dive team drysuits and other protective gear.
Happy reading,
Dan

 

[Iguana Don]

Rob,

Not just drysuits, the one you will need is a Butyl Rubber Drysuit, such as the one manufactured by Viking. There are others on the market, will get you a list if you need one.
Welcome to the board and your posting looks just fine.

ID

 

[Maggie]

I think you also need to consider whether you need, in addition to a Butyl Rubber Drysuit, dry gloves and a full face mask. This may be overkill in your case but you may also need some kind of decontamination routine prior to de-kitting to prevent contaminents being transferred to your skin and to your gear storage facilities. This could cause a potential risk to your family and friends if they came into contact. As I said this may be overkill, you would need to know what you would likely be exposed to. Is chemical etc analysis of the water carried out as a routine?

 

[bio guy]

Rob.

Here is a book you may want to consider. It is on my list of reference books to pick up this spring, since I often end up in bodies of water with questionable composition.

http://www.hammerheadpress.com/pages/highrisk.html

Like the others of have said, the more you can isolate your divers from a questionable environment the safer they will be (Drygloves, butyl suit, full face mask (likely positive pressure),etc,etc). Also, the full face mask will allow you communication ability to coordinate your efforts more efficiently.

Sometimes what you see is often not what you get. An example in point. A few years ago a couple of divers and myself were in a shallow bay doing an aquatic survey. The water, although not clear, wasn't overly turbid for an inland lake. We went in with standard gear. We were only at the site for about 45 mins or so. We all ended up sick the next day. (Wasn't the food..surface people were fine) We suspected an antiquated septic system in close proximity (discovered after the fact). Sure it could have been something else, but IMOH, better to take the right precautions first in a questionable environment.

Try this site for more info and regulations etc.
http://www.safedive.com/index.html

Also, consider consulting some of the commercial dive schools with your concerns. They should have up-to-date info on what is required from a legal point of view.
http://www.comdive.net/

Hope that helps

 

[scubadoc]

I'd highly recommend that you get the book mentioned by 'bio guy', "Diving in High-Risk Environments", by Steven M. Barsky. His most recent edition has had extensive revision, is highly readable and will answer most of your questions.

The book includes Chapters on diving in Contaminated Water, Contaminants and Hazards, Scuba Systems for Diving in Contaminated Water, Surface Supplied Diving Equipment, Dive Planning, Diving Techniques, Decontamination, Potable Water diving, Equipment Maintenance, extensive tablea and appendices and best of all - very helpful case histories.

In addition to the site mentioned by 'bio guy', it can also be purchased from amazon at this web site:
http://www.scuba-doc.com/DMbkstr.htm

For more information about diving in polluted water, go to our web page at http://www.scuba-doc.com/polwater.html .
This site has more links to sites for pollutant testing.

 

[ericfine50]

Rob,

Those books are great reads. The Drysuit that stands up the best is a Viking. That is what they are designed for. The seals are going to last and not delaminate in contaminated water. drygloves, FFM (AGA) should be standard gear. Lets not forget the most important part...training. Take a look at Lifeguard Systems, or ERDI (from TDI/SDI). There is one other that I can't think of, but they publish Searchlines magazine.


Eric

 

[Rick Murchison]

I'm not too sure about Stanislaus County.. but if it's anything like King's county the hydrodynamics are a good deal different that in much of the country - the water basically runs down from the mountains, along the Kings River and through irrigation canals out into the fields, where it evaporates. Agricultural runoff is rare - only in extremely wet years, and the salts & impurities settle out in a layer of "hardpan" a few feet under the fields.. the water from the fields usually never makes it to the water table, because the rate of evaporation exceeds the annual rainfall. (the water table is fed directly by the rivers, water from the mountains). The bottom line of all this is that the water in the rivers and irrigation canals in that part of the valley is very clean.. You might want to ask someone at UC Davis what the hydrology's like up there - you may or may not have a problem with pollution in the rivers and canals.
Rick

 

[Mark Cardoza]

Dear Rob,
It souds like your department needs quit hoarding the budget money and kick down some safety gear. This however is a two edged sword. They may find it is no longer cost efficient to have a dive team and disband the group. Not likely though! Your team is one of the elite in the nation. Good luck!