UPDATE: Lake Alert for Lake Formosa LIFTED
April 8, 2022
LIFTED: Lake Alert for Lake Formosa
Based on the latest results obtained by Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) from sampling Lake Formosa on March 31, 2022, the Lake Alert for Lake Formosa has been lifted. At this time, there are no toxins present in Lake Formosa, but blooms may still occur. There are always risks that could be associated with swimming, recreating, or irrigating in and from water with algal blooms, please use your own caution. If you see a visible bloom present, please report it to the FDEP Algal Bloom Dashboard, which can be found here: floridadep.gov/AlgalBloom.
Original Lake Alert below
January 28, 2022
On January 24, 2022, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) tested water samples from the western side of Lake Formosa and determined that potentially unsafe concentrations of toxins are present in the lake. As a precaution, we are advising everyone to refrain from swimming, recreating and irrigating in/from Lake Formosa until further notice.
For reference, cyanobacteria/blue-green algae are always present in the water, however, not all bacteria have the ability to produce toxins. Toxicity is hard to predict because a single species of algae can have toxic and non-toxic strains. Nothing can be done to treat algae blooms without causing massive fish kills. In the coming weeks, the city will work closely with Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to monitor Lake Formosa. Once we obtain more information on the status of the lake, we will continue to update this Lake Alert. Please encourage your neighbors to register for the Lake Alert at orlando.gov/lakealert so they too will get important information about Lake Formosa directly.
In the meantime, as we stated above, the city would advise refraining from swimming, recreating and irrigating in/from the lake until further notice.
