Friday, March 29, 2024

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Beach quality testing

First Published:

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In Hamilton there are a number of beaches to chose from but some are safer than others. The city of Hamilton regularly tests the water quality of it’s beaches and the contrast between them is dramatic.

The water quality at Bayfront Park Beach is so bad it’s closed for the entire season and Pier 4 Park Beach is closed for the time being.

Last year, it was deemed not safe for swimming more often than not.

The city of Hamilton collects water samples from all its beaches weekly and the samples are sent to the Public Health Ontario lab to be tested for e. Coli. They run tests on samples from all across southern Ontario.

“If you ingest e.coli contaminated water you may have diarrhea, and you may also have ear, eye, nose and throat infections as well. as well as skin infections.” said Alvin Sison from Public Health Ontario.

But the testing for e. coli takes time. Samples need to incubate for 18 to 22 hours at 43 to 44 degrees celsius.

So a beach could have high levels of e. coli but no one would know until the next day.

“That’s unfortunate but we don’t really have any other way to do it.” said Eric Matthews from Hamilton Public Health Services.

The water quality at Bayfront Park Beach is so bad it’s closed for the entire season and over at Pier 4 the beach closed for the time being.

Samples collected yesterday revealed the water had more than three times as much e. coli than what would deem it unsafe.

“Because fecal bacteria are present there could be other micro organisms present that could be pathogenic such as other bacteria, viruses or parasites.” said Matthews.

The water in the harbour is tested four times a week

Beaches along Lake Ontario only get tested once a week. Beach Boulevard and Van Wagners were open everyday last season and Confederation Park was only closed for two days.

“The water quality on Lake Ontario is very consistent. It’s safe for swimming almost all the time.”

But beach goers should be aware of changing conditions.

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