All but two beaches open from Clarington to Pickering this weekend

Almost all of Durham Region’s beaches are safe for swimming this weekend, but residents should stay out of two.

In their weekly water tests, the Regional Health Department looks for high rates of bacteria, particularly E.coli. “Beaches are posted as unsafe for swimming when elevated levels of E. coli exceed the provincial standard of 200 E. coli per 100 ml of water,” the Region explained.

Marked safe are;

• Paradise Beach (Ajax)
• Beaverton North, and Beaverton South (Brock)
• Bowmanville East, Bowmanville West, and Newcastle Beach Central (Clarington)
• Frenchman’s Bay East (Pickering)
• Frenchman’s Bay West (Pickering)
• Heydenshore Park and Iroquois Beach (Whitby)
• Lakeview Beach East and Lakeview Beach West (Oshawa)

Marked unsafe are;

• Kinsmen Beach (Scugog)
• Thorah Centennial Ark (Brock)

Thorah Centennial is posted due to high E. coli levels. However, Kinsmen Beach posted due to an ongoing blue-green algae bloom near Platten Island. Lake Scugog, as an artificially made water body, often suffers these blooms late in the summer.

There hasn’t been any algae seen at the beach itself but the Region posted an advisory there as a precaution given the beach’s history of blooms. “If people observe algae mats that may be blue-green, olive-green, or red in colour, they are advised not to enter the water in the surrounding area as some can produce toxins which may be harmful to humans and pets,” Durham Health explained.