THUNDER BAY – The permanent swim advisory at Chippewa Park's main beach has been lifted.
The Thunder Bay District Health Unit removed the advisory earlier this year after it had been in place for the entire 2014 swimming season.
Lee Sieswerda, the manager of environmental health at the health unit, said the advisory was initially issued because of the frequency of high E. coli levels in 2013 but they decreased throughout last year and the first tests this year came back clear.
Even so, Sieswerda advises people to take precautions at local beaches.
“If you’re going to swim in a place you should be cognizant of its history,” he said.
“If you see a lot of postings you should take some care and recognize that it’s entirely possible even though on Monday it’s clear, by Thursday the test might be different.”
The health unit monitors two beaches at Boulevard Lake as well as the main beach at Chippewa Park and the nearby Sandy Beach, conducting tests on a weekly basis.
Water samples are typically collected on a Monday, analyzed and then results are posted on Wednesday.
However, levels can change over the course of a couple of days and while some studies have identified rainfall and wind as possible factors in other places, the cause locally is unknown.
“We’ve examined our data to try to find the same correlations and we haven’t found them,” Sieswerda said. “We actually don’t know. The only way for us to test and that’s why we do it weekly.”
He added the health unit doesn’t test for skin irritants such as swimmer’s itch and people using beaches should assume it is present and rinse off accordingly.
