Source Information
Swim Drink Fish staff, interns, and volunteers monitor recreational water quality in the Toronto Harbour during the summer months. The guidelines followed are the 2014 Ontario’s Provincial Water Quality Objectives, set by the Ministry of Environment at 100 E.coli per 100 millilitres of water.
Water is sampled for E. coli and Total Coliform at all sites. The water is tested weekly on Tuesday or Thursday from June 6th to October 21st, 2022. Results are available 24 hours after samples are collected. Ontario Place West Island Beach is sampled year-round on Tuesdays between November 1st and June 1st.
Beaches are posted when the geometric mean of 5 samples collected within a given swimming area. A The Ministry of the Environment F-5-5 procedure says that a clean beach must meet water quality criteria for at least 95% of the swimming season, even if it is near a sewage pipe or combined sewer outfall.
Test results are expressed as Most Probable Number (MPN) of E.coli per 100 ml by using the IDEXX Quanti-Tray/2000 MPN Table.
A beach is marked Green when geometric mean of 5 samples results are equal or below 100 E.coli / 100 ml water.
A beach is marked Red when the geometric mean concentration (minimum of five samples) is above 100 E.coli / 100 ml water, according to Ontario’s water quality guidelines.
A beach is marked Grey when there are no current results or there is no available information.
Results are posted as soon as lab results are available. Results will be communicated through the swim guide website and app.
To see a full sample results table visit the Waterkeeper.ca website. Results are also available by email at megan@swimdrinkfish.ca or by calling The Swim Guide +1 (416) 861-1237.
