Holiday Beach in Amherstburg remains closed this week because of unsafe beach conditions due to erosion.
No other beaches are closed this week but three do have warnings posted. The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit reported swimming is not recommended at Sandpoint Beach, West Belle River Beach, and Cedar Island Beach because of high levels of E. coli bacteria.
The health unit tested the water on Monday and said those beaches have bacterial levels above provincial standards. 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 1000 per 100 millilitres of water or higher. Sandpoint Beach has a reading of 616, West Belle River Beach is listed at 472, and Cedar Island Beach has an E. coli count of 311.
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.
