The presence of E. coli is used as a fecal indicator to determine if beaches require a not suitable for swimming advisory. E. coli is a bacterium commonly found in the intestinal tract of animals and humans. It is an effective indicator to determine beach water quality and meets the recommendations outlined in Health Canada’s Guidelines for Canadian Recreational Water Quality – Indicators of Fecal Contamination 2023 (GCRWQ 2023). VCH has updated its beach water quality monitoring program to reflect the changes in the updated GCRWQ 2023. The key change is if a single sample exceeds 235 E.coli/100 mL (as opposed to 400 E.coli/100 mL prior to 2023), a contamination investigation, and resampling will be triggered.

Water at selected recreational beaches requires regular testing to ensure that beach users are kept informed as to whether water quality is at a safe level for public recreation. Poor water quality may present a risk of illness or infection. Beach water can be influenced quickly by different environmental factors, such as currents, tides, wildlife populations, weather conditions etc. It is important to note that water sampling provides a snapshot of the water quality, in the vicinity of the sample location, at the time the sample was taken. Therefore, the information provided may not always be representative of current conditions.