The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit has warnings up at five local beaches this week because of high levels of bacteria.
Swimming is not recommended at Sandpoint Beach in Windsor, West Belle River Beach in Lakeshore, Mettawas Beach in Kingsville, Colchester Beach in Essex and Cedar Island Beach in Kinsgville because E. coli bacteria levels exceed provincial standards.
Sandpoint has had high bacteria warnings three times so far this summer, West Belle River had them twice, Mettawas had those warnings five times and it was closed once, Colchester had two warnings and one shut down, and Cedar Island had four warnings to date. Sandpoint has the highest E. coli count with 539 while Colchester has the lowest at 228.
Holiday Beach in Amherstburg also remains shut down because erosion from high water levels on Lake Erie have made it unsafe.
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.