Close X
Friday, November 29, 2024
ADVT 
National

Ontario App Helps Users Find Beaches With The Safes

The Canadian Press, 01 Aug, 2015 12:15 PM
    TORONTO — Canadians looking to take the plunge in safe, clean waters this long weekend can use an app to scour beaches across the country with the best and worst water quality.
     
    The Waterkeeper Swim Guide app monitors the water quality of more than 7,000 beaches across North America, the Baja Peninsula and New Zealand, all aggregated from data contributed by local waterkeepers.
     
    Krystyn Tully, co-founder of the app that was launched by the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper in 2011, said the August long weekend is always the busiest time of year for the app's use.
     
    "It's the hottest, people are planning their trips, most people have vacation time," she said. "We realized just how important beaches are to Canadians and what a huge interest there is — and demand — for better water quality information."
     
    App users can browse the beaches nearest to them on a map for the ones safe to swim in, and can check the beaches' histories of bacteria-testing to confirm how consistent the water quality levels have been.
     
    Across the country, the guide recommends popular beaches with consistent water quality that include Gordon Bay Provincial Park on Vancouver Island; Wizard Lake Jubilee Beach near Edmonton; Sifton Beach on Dauphin Lake in Manitoba; Parc Jean-Drapeau Park in Montreal; and Campbell Point Beach near Halifax.
     
    In Ontario, the guide has pinpointed spots such as Kingston's Big Sandy Bay, Long Sault's Plage Mille Roches Beach, Guelph Lake, Pinery Provincial Park and Wollaston Lake Beach for their consistently clean water quality.
     
     
    But Thunder Bay's Sunnyside Boulevard Beach, Windsor-Essex's West Belle River Beach, Hamilton's Bayfront Beach and Carleton Place's Riverside Park Beach and Centennial Park Beach have had the most consistently poor water quality in the province, the guide found.
     
    Local waterkeepers typically monitor beaches daily for quality indicators such as phosphorus and E. coli levels, both of which, in excess, can result in blue-green algae — a toxic bacteria that can kill fish and sicken swimmers.
     
    Users can also report pollution, litter or other unsafe conditions at the beaches through the app and website. Tully said after Toronto's rainy June, when excess stormwater flowed into Lake Ontario, many users began using the app to report hypodermic needles washing ashore on the beaches.
     
    But most commonly, she said, the app's primary users are couples in their 30s with young children looking for beaches where they can safely take family trips.
     
    "Usually the feedback that we get is a mix of people just thanking us for making it easier for them," Tully said.
     
    The Waterkeeper Swim Guide is available on the Apple App Store, Google Play or its website.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    52 Kilos Of Cocaine Seized At Ambassador Bridge In Windsor, Ont.: CBSA

    52 Kilos Of Cocaine Seized At Ambassador Bridge In Windsor, Ont.: CBSA
    WINDSOR, Ont. — Canada Border Services Agency says its officers have made a major cocaine bust at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont.

    52 Kilos Of Cocaine Seized At Ambassador Bridge In Windsor, Ont.: CBSA

    Couple, Son Win $17.3 Millin In Lotto 6-49; Says Helping Others Came Back To Them

    Couple, Son Win $17.3 Millin In Lotto 6-49; Says Helping Others Came Back To Them
    Gerald, Elizabeth, and Dean Fritsma of Grande Prairie won the millions on the June 17 draw of Lotto 6-49.

    Couple, Son Win $17.3 Millin In Lotto 6-49; Says Helping Others Came Back To Them

    Tories Launch Anti-Mulcair Attack Ads On Eve Of Federal Election Call

    Tories Launch Anti-Mulcair Attack Ads On Eve Of Federal Election Call
    The Conservatives are finally training their sights on NDP Leader Tom Mulcair just as Prime Minister Stephen Harper is about to plunge the country into an 11-week election on Sunday.

    Tories Launch Anti-Mulcair Attack Ads On Eve Of Federal Election Call

    Ministers, Tory MPs Pledge New Cash, Recycle Old Promises As Election Looms

    Ministers, Tory MPs Pledge New Cash, Recycle Old Promises As Election Looms
    OTTAWA — Federal cabinet ministers have made almost $1.6 billion in spending promises in the last two days, as the hours tick down to an expected election call.

    Ministers, Tory MPs Pledge New Cash, Recycle Old Promises As Election Looms

    On Campaign's Eve, Tories Atop Fundraising List, But NDP Leaps To Second Place

    On Campaign's Eve, Tories Atop Fundraising List, But NDP Leaps To Second Place
    OTTAWA — Elections Canada says the Conservative party raised $7.4 million from 45,532 donors in the second quarter of the year.

    On Campaign's Eve, Tories Atop Fundraising List, But NDP Leaps To Second Place

    Justin Trudeau Visits East-end Montreal Riding Cool To The Liberal Party

    Shoppers at a public market in east-end Montreal were all smiles when Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau paid them a visit, but behind the pleasantries was an electorate cool to the idea of voting for his party.

    Justin Trudeau Visits East-end Montreal Riding Cool To The Liberal Party

    PrevNext