People in Oxford County are being advised to stay out of the water at Pittock Reservoir due to E. coli.
Oxford County Public Health posted warning signs at Pittock after water testing conducted this week found bacterial contamination was above the provincial standard of 100 E. coli or less per 100 ml of water.
Contact with E. coli can cause skin, eye, ear, nose, and throat infections or gastrointestinal illness, according to the health unit. Elevated levels of E.coli bacteria is often an indicator of fecal contamination from either animals or people or both.
Water quality testing is conducted weekly by public health officials are various beaches across the region. The signs warning swimmers to stay out of the water at Pittock will remain in place until until test results indicate that the water quality meets the bathing beach water standard.
