13 Huron County beaches ‘unsafe for swimming’ following high E. coli levels

All 13 Huron County beaches have tested been for bacteria heading into the weekend, and they’re all deemed unsafe. CTV London’s Scott Miller explains.

For a hot, sunny day, it’s pretty quiet at Goderich’s beaches. The large ‘WARNING’ sticker pasted over signs at the entrance to the beach might have something to do with it.

“Pretty much all of the beaches, the public beaches that we test, tested over for E.coli,” said Senior Public Health Inspector with Huron Perth Public Health Dale Lyttle.

Beach water samples taken Wednesday showed unsafe E. coli levels at all 13 Huron County beaches tested by the local health unit. The likely cause: rainstorms that moved through the region on Tuesday.

“Contamination is mostly through the stirring up of silt on the lakebed. However, there are other contamination sources that could lead to high levels. Things like a surge of runoff, malfunctioning septic tank, wildlife, animal feces, and even swimmers can contribute to it as well,” said Lyttle.

While some of the beaches were just over the acceptable E. coli limit of 200 colony-forming units per 100 ml, some were well over that number. Bayfield’s Main Beach coming in at 971 colony-forming units per 100ml, which is geometric mean of at least five samples per beach.

“They’re taking a risk if they if they want to swim. What could happen is that they could have diarrhea or get infections of the skin, nose, eyes, or throat,” said Lyttle.

Grand Bend’s Main beach was deemed unsafe to swim on Wednesday but has since been cleared to swim.

All beaches tested in Bruce and Grey counties are deemed safe for swimming, but those beaches are only tested monthly, so some beaches haven’t been sampled since mid-June.

Lyttle says whatever the numbers say, swimmers can and should protect themselves.

“If you can’t see your feet in waist deep water, or if it’s wavy, or if there’s has been a storm 24 to 48 hours before then, it’s likely that E. coli levels are going to be high. So, take precautions and just don’t go in,” said Lyttle.

Retesting of Huron County’s beaches took place Friday, with results expected sometime on Saturday.

“We’re hoping the levels subside. But we won’t know until we get those results,” said Lyttle.