City water tests reveal four city beaches temporarily contain too much E.coli
Sunnyside, Woodbine, Balmy, Bluffer’s beaches are risky for swims today: city
By Kris Scheuer
Swimmer dives in at Woodbine Beach. Photo by Kris Scheuer/Town Crier.
The good news is Cherry Beach is totally safe for a splashing in, according to the July 24 test results by the water department.
Unfortunately, that is the only Toronto beach with safe levels of E.coli posted today.
The city recommends against swimming at Sunnyside, Woodbine, Kew-Balmy and Bluffer’s due to high levels of E.coli detected in beach water.
So Torontonians and visitors, would you swim at any of the city’s beaches?
Have your say, are our beaches swim worthy or not? There will be lifeguards at these hot spots and the beaches are not closed, so it’s up to you to take the plunge or not.
And due to the labour disruption, six other T.O. beaches are not getting tested at all.
So at Rouge, Marie Curtis Park East, Hanlan’s Point, Gibraltar Point, Centre Island and Ward’s Island it’s swim at your own risk. Here’s the lay of the land for all eleven beaches today:
Not safe to swim 
Not being tested 
Safe to swim
I have written numerous times about the water quality at our beaches and based on interviews I have done previously with officials, I’m told the city has a higher standard than what the province requires. So Toronto Public Health is overly cautious and may post warnings against swimming even when other cities may consider it safe.
In fact, seven of the city’s 11 beaches have an international Blue Flag rating. Those flags are lowered temporarily during the strike as the city can’t maintain the necessary standards due to fewer staff.
Torontonians will know it’s been a rainy summer. In fact we had at least 22.5 mm of rain yesterday alone and that impacts on lake pollution.
“After a heavy rainfall, for up to 48 hours, water quality at all beaches may worsen and cause illness especially in beaches near rivers such as Rouge Beach, Sunnyside Beach and Marie Curtis Park East,” according to the city.
During the city strike by CUPE locals 416 and 79, the government continues to do water tests Monday-Friday at five beaches so the next update will be Tuesday July 28 based on the test results from the previous day.
Kris Scheuer 