Sydenham Lake

Sydenham Lake is north of Kingston. The water from this lake drains into Millhaven Creek, which empties into Lake Ontario at Millhaven. The community is named after the controversial Charles Poulett Thomson, 1st Baron Sydenham. He was the first Governor of the United Province of Canada. The lake is beloved by a handful of Hollywood actors and NHL stars.

The beach area is relatively shallow and calm, making it ideal for wading and relaxing. At this location there is a small play structure for children, a pavilion with picnic tables, baseball fields, a running track, and a gravel parking lot. There are also public washrooms which are wheelchair accessible.

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Water Quality

Passed water quality tests 60-95% of the time
Historical Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on August 26th, 2022. Kingston Monitoring Hub updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on August 26th, 2022 at 2:04 PM.

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Current Weather

13°C

A mix of sun and clouds

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Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

KFL&A Public Health monitors recreational water quality at sites in this region. The sampling season starts mid-June and continues to the end of August. Water at all sites is sampled for E. coli and Total coliform at all sites. Water samples are collected weekly. KFL&A Public Health issues beach advisories when the geometric mean concentration of at least five samples is at least 200 E. coli / 100 mL of water or when a single sample is at least 400 E. coli / 100 mL of water. This guideline comes from Canada’s Guidelines for Canadian Recreational Water Quality (2012). It is applied to beaches in Ontario in accordance with Ontario’s Recreational Water Protocol, 2018. Prior to 2018 beaches in Ontario were posted when the geometric mean of 5 samples collected within a 30-day period exceeded 100 E. coli / 100 mL of water. Results are posted to Swim Guide as soon as lab results are available. They are also available at https://www.kflaph.ca/en/healthy-living/public-beach-listings.aspx.

In Swim Guide, a beach is marked Green when the geometric mean of at least 5 samples is below 200 E.coli / 100 mL water and each individual sample concentration is below 400 E.coli/100 mL. A beach is marked Red when the results are equal to or above a geometric mean of 200 E.coli / 100 mL water and/or 400 E.coli / 100 mL. A beach is marked Grey when there are no current results or there is no available information. The Ministry of the Environment F-5-5 Procedure says that a clean beach is open at least 95% of the swimming season, even if it is near a sewage pipe or combined sewer outfall. This rule applies to every place that is public, accessible, and feels like a good place to swim. When all else fails, the Ontario Environmental Protection Act strongly states that no one can interfere with the use that you can make of a public waterway - like swimming! The City of Kingston has combined sewers monitored by Utilities Kingston. Try to avoid contact with the water for 48 hours after a rainfall event. To view Utilities Kingston’s live combined sewer overflow monitoring data, visit: https://utilitieskingston.com/Wastewater/SewerOverflow/Map. DISCLAIMER: Historical data from 2017 and prior reflect the previous Ontario standard of a geometric mean of 100 E. coli /100 mL. Historical data from 2018 onward reflect the new Ontario Operational Approaches for Recreational Water Guideline, 2018: Geometric mean concentration 200 E. coli/ 100 mL and single-sample maximum concentration of 400 E. coli /100 mL.

Water Quality Graph