Water Sampling 2004:
A Brief Note

The Federation has asked to make an Oral Submission to Council about the summer’s water sampling results. Ideally this will be given at a meeting when the Health Unit and Keith Sherman of the Severn Sound Environmental Association make their reports as well. The Submission will consider sampling done this summer in relation to what has been learned each summer since 2001.

The 2004 results for all samples taken from the Bay, Farlain Lake, and various streams will be posted on www.tinycottager.org under “Water Report” very soon. The results include those for samples taken by thirteen beach associations, the Simcoe County District Health Unit, Awenda Provincial Park and Camp Marygrove.

This brief report will focus on “unconventional” sampling done by trained volunteers from beach associations. Most volunteer sampling follows the Protocol used by the Health Unit, which says that samples are to be taken where the water is 3-5’ deep. However, from the first year of the volunteer sampling program on, some samples have been taken from streams, ditches and culverts (something the Health Unit itself used to do), and almost all of these samples have been taken from less than 3’ of water. Such samples have proved to be very useful in assessing the source of water quality problems at some beaches.

This year, two beach associations decided to do another kind of “unconventional” sampling. They decided to take Bay water samples at depths of less than that mandated by the Beach Protocol, depths where toddlers spend their time.

The Addison Beach Association took 9 samples at toddler depth on five sampling days -- and got inconclusive results. The E. coli counts in 3 of these “toddler” samples were the same as samples from 3-5’, 2 had lower E. coli counts, and 4 had higher E. coli counts.

The Lafontaine North Beach Association had much more dramatic findings. At its beach there was a 6-8” deep accumulation of brown scum in a 10’ wide band along the shore, a condition that persisted for weeks. The beach association decided to take samples from the scum, at 2’ (toddler depth), at 3-5’ and from the beach pond. The E. coli counts in the scum were very high: 740, 1,100, 2,800, 5,900, and 8,500. (The allowable E. coli count in swimming water is 100 in 100 ml of water.) Had they been permitted to do so, toddlers would have waded through this scum to get to clear water at their depth. Even there, the E. coli levels were well beyond the allowable level – 200, 300, 410, 1,000, and 1,300. Where the children had been taken to paddle, a little farther along the beach, the count was 30 one week and 130 the next. The counts at 3-5’ were 30 one week and 270 the next. The beach pond had a count of 500.

Lafontaine North has put considerable energy into finding ways to get the situation corrected. We’re hoping that there will be a report about their success in the Spring/Summer 2005 issue of The Tiny Cottager.