Are You Ready For A Swim At The Beach?
Written by admin, June 20, 2012
June 20, 2012 – Public Health Begins 2012 Beach Sampling Program for Water Quality
This week Public Health Inspectors from the Peterborough County City Public Health began monitoring the water quality at public beaches throughout Peterborough County and the City of Peterborough.
Residents wanting to know the status of water quality at various beaches can visit Public Health’s website at www.peterboroughpublichealth.ca for current results. Residents can also call PCCHU at 705-743-1000 to find out which beaches have acceptable levels of bacteria or which have been posted as unsafe for swimming due to poor water quality.
The 2012 beach sampling season started on June 18, 2012 and ends on August 31, 2012. The following public beaches are monitored by Public Health:
City of Peterborough beaches:
- Roger’s Cove Beach (131 Maria St, Peterborough)
- Beavermead Beach (2011 Ashburnham Drive, Peterborough)
Peterborough County beaches:
- Chandos Beach (Hwy 620, North Kawartha)
- Curve Lake Lance Wood Park (Chemong St. S., Curve Lake)
- Curve Lake Henry’s Gumming (Whetung St. E., Curve Lake)
- Douro Park (205 Douro Second Line, Douro-Dummer)
- Ennismore Park Beach (1053 Ennis Rd., Ennismore)
- Jones Beach (908 Jones Beach Rd., Bridgenorth)
- Hiawatha Beach (1 Lakeshore Rd, Hiawatha)
- Lakefield Beach (100 Hague Blvd., Lakefield)
- Norwood Beach(12 Belmont St., Norwood)
- Quarry Bay Beach(1986 Northey’s Bay Rd, Woodview)
- Sandy Beach (Lakehurst Rd., Lakehurst)
- Selwyn Conservation Area (2251 Birch Island Rd., Selwyn)
- Squirrel Creek Conservation Area (2445 Wallace Point Rd., South Monaghan)
- Warsaw Caves (289 Caves Rd., Warsaw)
The two public beaches in the City of Peterborough are sampled by Public Health Inspectors once each business day. Public beaches in Peterborough County are sampled at least once every week except for Chandos Beach and Quarry Bay Beach which are sampled at least once in June, July and August.
Public beaches are posted with a “WARNING: Unsafe for Bathing” sign when lab results show the water samples to contain more than the accepted bathing water standard of E.coli. The posted sign indicates that an elevated level of bacteria in the water may pose a risk to your health if you choose to swim. Swimming in beaches that are posted can cause ear, eye, nose, throat and skin infections as well as possible diarrhea if the water is ingested.
Beaches may also be posted if high levels of rainfall are recorded from the previous day. Beaches will remain posted until additional water tests show satisfactory results and meet the bathing water standard.
There are many factors that contribute to elevated levels of bacteria in our beach water, including:
- Heavy rainfall
- Large numbers of waterfowl
- High winds or wave activity
- Large numbers of swimmers
How can you help protect the water quality?
- Do not feed waterfowl
- Do not let children swim in soiled diapers
- Pick up your garbage
- Clean up after your dog
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For further information, please contact:
Mandy Kwan
Public Health Inspector
705-743-1000, ext. 290