Just in time for summer: 2 Vancouver beaches closed to swimming due to E. coli
With hot weather on the way this weekend for the first time this summer, many Vancouverites will be heading for the beach. Unfortunately, two popular beaches will be closed to swimming because of E. coli contamination.
Water sampling at English Bay and Locarno beaches by Vancouver Coastal Health has found bacteria levels in excess of the acceptable range.
The Vancouver Park Board tweeted Friday that both beaches would be closed to swimming until further notice as a result.
Each beach saw consecutive samples well over the 400-parts-per-100-millilitre level that is considered acceptable for swimming, according to the health authority's website.
Concentrations at Locarno Beach exceeded 1,607 parts per 100 millilitres, while concentrations at English Bay Beach were over 1,785.
The only other beaches in Vancouver Coastal Health's coverage area that are currently closed to swimming are Sandy Beach on Bowen Island and Vancouver's Trout Lake.
Each of those beaches saw the geometric mean of E. coli levels recorded over the last five tests rise above 200 parts per 100 millilitres, which is the other way water quality testing can lead to beach closures.
Trout Lake closed to swimming on Tuesday and Sandy Beach closed Thursday.
High levels of E. coli in water can come from a variety of sources, including from contaminated stormwater runoff, leaking septic tanks and discharge from boats, according to VCH.
When bacteria concentrations are high, there is an increased risk that swimmers will suffer gastrointestinal illness or infections to the skin or eyes, the health authority says, adding that seniors, children and people with weakened immune systems are the most susceptible.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.