Whitewater Center rafting channels reopen Wednesday

Rafters and kayakers rejoice: The U.S. National Whitewater Center will once again be fully operational today.

Yesterday, the center announced it was reopening its whitewater rafting and kayaking channels Wednesday, just a few days before the USNWC’s Festival X, celebrating 10 years. The channels closed in June following a visitor’s death. The water tested positive for an amoeba that causes rare but fatal infections.

The channels were drained and cleaned, and new systems were installed to treat the water. The refilling process began last Friday.

The USNWC also posted a “Water Quality Management Plan” update on its website yesterday. The highlights:

– The center will use spin disc filtration to remove contaminants from the water stream.

– There will be three overlapping systems to treat the water: Chlorine (about half as much as you find in a typical pool), ozone oxidation (commonly used in drinking water purification in Europe) and UV irradiation (light waves that inactivate microorganisms and bacteria). UV light supplemented by chlorine was the previous method.

– The center will vacuum up sediment in the water that can hold the amoeba.

– “Please understand that despite all of the efforts to treat the water at the USNWC, eliminating 100% of the specific risk of any organisms existing in the whitewater system is never guaranteed,” the management plan says. “Our goal, like any other water system, pool, or aquarium is to simply reduce the chances of contracting waterborne illness.”

The center’s water quality isn’t regulated, but Mecklenburg County will monitor the channels after they reopen.

Even if you don’t raft or kayak, it’ll be nice to drink a beer next to rushing rapids again.

Photo: David T. Foster III/Charlotte Observer

This story was originally published August 9, 2016 at 9:31 PM with the headline "Whitewater Center rafting channels reopen Wednesday."