RED ALERT!
Is it the portal to hell or a science experiment?
It’s not something you see every day. It’s the stuff of horror movies and biblical references.
Although supposedly safe, this is one creek I am not interested in plunging into.
On Monday, the City of Franklin TN (where I live) started a hydrological survey to test the Harpeth River travel time to the water treatment plant at the current flow condition. Well I guess it did not flow as quickly and as without attention as they thought it would. The tracer, Rhodamine WT was added upstream near a local golf course (actually the one where my husband plays) and the red started getting a lot of attention. I heard about it yesterday and had to go see it last night.
There isn’t a lot of public access in this area of the river besides the golf course. Since it isn’t a good idea to wander around on a golf course if you are not playing, I decided to try an access point a little downstream. No red water. I tried a few more places to see if I could get close, but I really don’t like trespassing, so I had to give it up last night.
I really didn’t want to miss seeing this in person, so today I thought maybe the dye had traveled downstream to the access point. I pulled in the little parking lot and I was the only one there. It is fairly secluded but on a busy road. As I walked to the stairs, I was SO excited to see the flash of red! I haven’t been able to do much waterfall hunting lately because of a bum knee and a local drought impacting water flow, so it was great to have this small adventure.
I don’t work for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation obviously, but I wonder why they chose this creepy red color, especially so close to Halloween. I have seen tracing events before, and I thought they normally use something unnatural, like the green below. Please note this is NOT my picture.
If you are interested in seeing the red flow in person, my pictures were taken at the Eastern Flank Harpeth access by Carnton Plantation. By tomorrow, Oct 5, it may reach Pinkerton Park. Happy Halloweeen!
