PREPARED BY:
Environmental Health
DATE:
June 16, 2022
SUBJECT:
Recreational Water Quality Monitoring
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE
As part of the requirements in the Recreational Water Protocol, 2019, the Health Unit conducts pre-operational, required, and re-inspections (if needed) of public recreational water facilities such as public pools, splash pads, spas, and public beaches.
The chart below is a summary of the number and type of public recreational water facilities that the Health Unit regularly inspects.
|
Type of Facility |
Total in WEC |
|
Spa |
19 |
|
Spray/ Splash Pad |
29 |
|
Pools Class A Class B Class C |
23 81 10 |
|
Water Slide |
3 |
|
Wave Action Pool |
2 |
|
Public Beach |
9 |
Recreational Water Facilities Inspections
The chart below is a summary of the number and types of inspections completed in 2021 and 2022 (up to May 24, 2022) at the various recreational facilities in WEC.
|
Type of Inspection |
# of inspections completed in 2021 |
# of inspections completed 2022 (data pull from May 24, 2022) |
|
Pre-Operational Inspections |
67 |
25 |
|
Required |
143 |
77 |
|
Re-Inspection |
48 |
10 |
|
Beach Inspections |
163 |
n/a |
2021 Beach Testing Summary
The 2021 beach testing season was a total of 17 weeks long. Testing began on May 31, 2021 and concluded on September 20, 2021. Public Health Inspectors completed 163 on-site beach inspections in 2021. There were 49 water quality warnings (>200/100 mL water) issued and 7 closures (>1000/100 mL water) issued.
| Name of Beach | Warnings (2021) | Closures (2021) |
| Belle River Beach | 8 | 2 |
| Cedar Beach | 5 | 1 |
| Cedar Island Beach | 3 | 1 |
| Colchester Beach | 6 | 0 |
| Holiday Beach | 3 | 0 |
| Mettawas Beach | 12 | 2 |
| Point Pelee North West Beach | 2 | 0 |
| Sandpoint Beach | 6 | 1 |
| Seacliff Beach | 4 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 49 | 7 |
DISCUSSION
EH Priority Areas and Activity Adjustments
As of May 2, 2022, the priority areas for Safe Water inspections are for beach testing, outdoor opening of pools/spas/splash pads (minimum of 1/year) and indoor operational pools/spas/splash pads (minimum of 2 per year). The frequency of inspections will be adjusted due to staffing challenges and will be reassessed based on need throughout the season.
Beach Assessments and Testing
The 2022 pre-season beach assessments were completed at all nine public beaches on May 9, 2022 by Public Health Inspectors. Regular weekly water sampling began on May 24, 2022.
Beach water sampling takes place on Monday (or Tuesday if Monday is a holiday). Public Health Inspectors take five water samples from along the beachfront and submit these samples to the public health lab in London, Ontario for bacteriological testing. Beach water quality results from Monday’s sampling are uploaded on Thursday to the Beach Water Testing page (https://wechu.org/your-environment/beaches-pools-and-spas/beaches) and on the Beach Hotline (ext. 426). If the beach is closed due to high E. coli levels (>1000/100 mL of water), the beach will be resampled on Wednesday of the same week and results made available by end of day Friday.