There are five local beaches listed as unsafe for swimming this week.
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit has warnings up at Sandpoint in Windsor, Point Pelee (North West) in Leamington, Seacliff in Leamington, Mettawas in Kingsville, and Colchester in Essex because E. coli bacteria levels are too high.
No beaches are closed this week and swimming is still not allowed at Holiday Beach in Amherstburg because erosion from high water levels on Lake Erie have made it unsafe.
Colchester Beach has the highest bacteria level with an E. coli count of 424. It's the fourth time this year that Colchester Beach has tested high for bacteria and a harmful algae bloom in western Lake Erie has also reached that area.
Mettawas Beach has had warnings six time so far this year and has been shut down once, while Point Pelee (North West) Beach has been open for swimming all summer until this week, Sandpoint Beach has been unsafe for swimming four times this year and Seacliff Beach has been listed as unsafe twice.
Warnings are posted when the water samples have E. coli levels that are greater than 200 per 100 millilitres of water and are shut down when the E. coli count is 1,000 per 100 millilitres of water or higher. People can get sick from water with high levels of E. coli. The most common illnesses are stomach and intestinal illnesses such as vomiting and diarrhea, along with lung, eye, ear, nose, or throat infections or skin issues. Swallowing contaminated water is the main way people may get sick.
Health officials have started conducting beach water quality monitoring at all nine public beaches at least once a week. The testing runs from June to September to make sure the E. coli counts in the water are below provincial standards. Beach sampling will take place every Monday and if the beach is closed due to high E. coli levels, it will be resampled on Thursday of the same week. Beach water quality results are released every Wednesday during the summer.
The health unit does not recommend swimming after a heavy rainfall even if the beach is open for swimming.
