Eug
Senior Member
There was an article in the Star today saying that many Torontonians are still scared to swim in Toronto's beaches, despite the fact that 7 are now designated Blue Flag, with an 8th, Bluffer's Park Beach, a Blue Flag candidate.
I must admit, when I first moved to Toronto I too was a bit concerned about swimming in the Toronto beaches because of the water quality. However, while I'm not a big beach user, these days I don't really have that concern anymore, at least for the Blue Flag beaches. It seems that Ontario's guidelines of 100 bacteria/100 mL is more stringent than national and international standards. I wouldn't have any problem bringing my friends' kids to the local beaches, as long as the recent testing has been OK.
BTW, it's interesting that Bluffer's Park Beach is now a Blue Flag candidate. I just remember that the summer 2007 test values were bad, but it seems way better in 2010, which is I guess why it's now a candidate. I wonder what's changed since then.
I must admit, when I first moved to Toronto I too was a bit concerned about swimming in the Toronto beaches because of the water quality. However, while I'm not a big beach user, these days I don't really have that concern anymore, at least for the Blue Flag beaches. It seems that Ontario's guidelines of 100 bacteria/100 mL is more stringent than national and international standards. I wouldn't have any problem bringing my friends' kids to the local beaches, as long as the recent testing has been OK.
BTW, it's interesting that Bluffer's Park Beach is now a Blue Flag candidate. I just remember that the summer 2007 test values were bad, but it seems way better in 2010, which is I guess why it's now a candidate. I wonder what's changed since then.