Beavermeade

Peterborough, Ontario

Beavermead Park provides access to Little Lake. Canada's first Prime Minister, Sir John A. MacDonald, once owned the parklands. Its name comes from the Beaver and Meades Creeks, which flow through the park and campground in the heart of Peterborough. There are washroom and change room facilities along with ample parking here.

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COVID-19

Keep your distance from other people.

Practicing social distancing is still essential. Only go to the beach if you are able to keep 6 feet or 2 meters away from others. Follow the instructions provided by your local health authorities. If your community has asked that you remain indoors and away from others, do so. Spending a day in any crowded place is the worst thing we can do for our most vulnerable right now and will counter our efforts to curb the virus’s spread.

Water Quality

Passed water quality tests 60-95% of the time
Historical Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on September 2nd, 2022. Lake Ontario Waterkeeper updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on September 7th, 2022 at 1:31 PM.

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Current Weather

-3°C

Clear and sunny

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Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

Peterborough Public Health monitors recreational water quality at sites in this region. Sampling season starts early June and ends Labour Day Weekend. Water samples are collected daily at two beaches, weekly at 15 beaches and monthly at five beaches. Water at all sites is sampled for E. coli. Peterborough 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 on the sampling day exceeded 100 E. coli / 100 mL of water. Results are posted to the health unit’s website as soon as lab results are available and then updated on Swim Guide. The results are available at http://www.peterboroughpublichealth.ca/your-health/beaches-and-pools/beach-testing-results/.

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 are 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. http://www.peterboroughpublichealth.ca/your-health/beaches-and-pools/beach-testing-results/. A Ministry of the Environment Procedure (F-5-5) 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! 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