Water Quality Testing Underway at Local Beaches
/Peterborough Public Health (PPH) has resumed beach water testing in Peterborough and the surrounding area to ensure that water quality conditions are safe for recreational use.
Photo courtesy of the City of Peterborough.
Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations, Peterborough County and the City are being subject to regular testing until the end of August.
PPH notes that Rogers Cove is no longer an active beach in the City of Peterborough and is no longer being sampled.
The following beach is sampled daily, Monday to Friday:
Beavermead Park
Most public beaches in the county are sampled at least once a week, including:
Buckhorn Beach
Crowe’s Line Beach
Curve Lake Henry’s Gumming
Curve Lake Lime Kiln Park
Douro North Park
Ennismore Waterfront Park
Hiawatha Park
Jones Beach
Lakefield Park
Sandy Beach
Selwyn Beach Conservation Area
Squirrel Creek Conservation Area
Warsaw Caves Conservation Area
The following public beaches are sampled once a month from June to August:
Chandos Beach (2800 County Road 620, Apsley)
Quarry Bay Beach (1986 Northey’s Bay Road, Woodview)
Belmont Lake (376 Miles of Memories Road, Belmont)
Kasshabog Lake (431 Peninsula Road, Havelock)
White’s Beach (26 Clearview Drive, Trent Lakes)
PPH says the following factors may result in high levels of bacteria or other conditions that cause the beach to be unsafe for swimming between sampling periods:
Heavy rainfall
High winds or wave activity
Large numbers of swimmers
Harmful algae blooms
Large numbers of waterfowl
Water samples are submitted to the Public Health Laboratory for bacteriological analysis. Samples are tested for E. coli bacteria, a common indicator of fecal contamination in water.
PPH says it takes approximately 24 hours for them to receive and analyze the water quality results from the lab. If levels of bacteria exceed recommended thresholds for recreational water use, the beach will be posted as unsafe and to avoid becoming ill, people should not use the beach for swimming. If a significant risk to human health is identified, such as a toxic spill or the identification of a harmful algae bloom, a beach may be closed to the public.
PPH is offering tips to help ensure the water quality stays safe:
Do not feed waterfowl
Do not let children swim in soiled diapers
Pick up your garbage
Clean up after your pet