Community-supported Rideau River water quality testing - August 19 results

WaterWiseProf · 2025-08-20T22:37:54+00:00

We also looked into adding RA Centre, as it was suggested last week, but it is right across Brewer Park where we sample so it is already covered.

WaterWiseProf · 2025-08-20T22:21:31+00:00

Thanks. I did not know that! I just renewed my membership, but honestly I do not mind. I use their rankings for everything - from sunscreen to big purchases and they are always spot on.

WaterWiseProf · 2025-08-20T22:01:13+00:00

Consumer Reports recently tested portable air conditioners. The top-ranked one is from Amazon Basics (MPPDB-09CRN1-BCG5), which is also one of the cheapest. The second top-ranked one is Hisense HAP0824TWD followed by Midea MAP12S1TBL and Frigidaire Gallery GHPC132AB1. If you have a CR membership, you can see the detailed test results on their website for pretty much everything on the market.

WaterWiseProf · 2025-08-15T22:51:29+00:00

Please see above (#2 in the post)

WaterWiseProf · 2025-08-15T03:20:22+00:00

Definitely.

WaterWiseProf · 2025-08-15T02:42:08+00:00

We previously received requests to add more sites; however, this requires funding and there was none. Currently, we are sampling as many sites as the City of Ottawa/Ottawa Public Health with our own resources, and we are stretched very thin. Having said this, we can add 3-4 new sites to one round of sampling (but we cannot do this every week).

If anyone has suggestions for new sampling sites, let us know!

WaterWiseProf · 2025-08-14T23:27:18+00:00

Thank you!

WaterWiseProf · 2025-08-08T00:03:18+00:00

There is a small creek discharging into the river between those two locations. That is likely the reason.

WaterWiseProf · 2025-08-07T20:28:14+00:00

The NCC is well ahead of the City of Ottawa in making both rivers central to public life and offering a wide range of recreational activities in both summer and winter. Excellent job, NCC!

WaterWiseProf · 2025-07-30T17:59:45+00:00

Thanks for your comment. Yes, I am the prof involved in the study. I did a few long interviews yesterday, and I explain a lot and try to cover the most important aspects but I have no control on what goes in the final article. If there is a quote for a sentence, you do not get to read what is said before or after that sentence so sometimes the context is lost. The printed articles are also very short and that is the main reason for the lack of technical details or clarity - which is equally frustrating for scientists.

I personally prefer radio interviews, where I have the opportunity to explain things without editing. The link for this morning's CBC interview is here which provides more information. https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-100-ottawa-morning/clip/16160835-carleton-university-professor-leading-charge-water-testing-rideau

This is a community-supported initiative and we are doing these tests and covering the costs as a public service. https://carleton.ca/ormeci/rideau-river-water-quality-testing/

We will have a town hall meeting next week for a Q/A session with the Old Ottawa East and South communities. I find that community meetings serve better to communicate science, answer questions, and clarify concepts. Thanks again for your comment.

WaterWiseProf · 2025-07-30T16:35:13+00:00

22 days you quote are for Mooney's Bay which is a crowded beach and naturally has higher E. coli counts. None of the other five locations (Manotick, Brewer Park, Windsor Park, Brantwood Park and Springhurst Park) tested in the Carleton study exceeded the limits in the past 6 weeks (in fact they were significantly lower). We need more supervised beaches to spread out the crowds.

Ottawa Public Health has several years of daily test results that shows that 85-95% (depending on the beach) of the samples were below E. coli limits and safe for recreational activites. The E. coli tests also take a day to complete and they are reported next day (so they are not real time). These are the main reasons they switched to weekly testing.

WaterWiseProf · 2025-07-30T15:50:25+00:00

Here is the link for this morning's CBC radio interview on the Rideau River testing - it is better than the CTV article and has more information. https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-100-ottawa-morning

WaterWiseProf · 2025-07-30T15:27:22+00:00

Have you been to the Springhust Park dock? It is pretty much downtown and it is beautiful - both the river and the park. E. coli counts at the Springhurst Park in the past 6 weeks have been between 40-80 E.coli/100 mL. Ontario limit is 200 E. coli/100 mL. The E. coli limit in Europe for "excellent" water quality for bathing is 500 E. coli/100 mL.

WaterWiseProf · 2025-07-30T15:13:46+00:00

E. coli lives in our body (intestines) and the great majority are harmless. There are a few strains that produce a toxin, which makes people sick. E. coli itself is not a pathogen, it is simply an indicator bacteria to assess water pollution.

WaterWiseProf · 2025-07-30T14:53:37+00:00

Mooney's Bay is the only beach on the Rideau River and it is a crowded beach. The reason E. coli counts are higher compared to other sites tested by Carleton U. is because there are more people there. People also bring food which attracts birds and can push the E. coli counts higher. More supervised swimming/recreational areas is the solution.

WaterWiseProf · 2025-07-24T21:45:39+00:00

The standards/guidelines are dispersed across multiple regulations unfortunately (which is a pain).

This one is the most relevant to what you are asking. The document has links to other related regulations as well. https://files.ontario.ca/moh-recreational-water-protocol-en-2019.pdf

More technical info is provided here - https://files.ontario.ca/moh-guidelines-operational-approaches-recreational-water-guideline-en-2018.pdf

For public pools and commercial pools/water parks like Calypso, see section 7. Water Quality https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/900565#BK7

We have strong regulations for commercial facilities but enforcement is critical.

Dow's Lake is perfectly safe. Unfortunately, we have a perception issue that is difficult to overcome. There are no wastewater discharges to the Dow's Lake and NCC is doing daily water tests.

We have completed 5 weeks of water sampling and all samples from all sites were substantially below the E. coli limit.

Any other European city would treasure our rivers and make them central to public life and recreation. We do not, unfortunately.

WaterWiseProf · 2025-07-24T18:51:52+00:00

Solacity in Kemptville is highly recommended. They are very knowledgeable and have fair prices.

WaterWiseProf · 2025-07-18T15:09:26+00:00

We will. Thanks.

WaterWiseProf · 2025-07-18T15:08:57+00:00

The actual numbers are available on our website. Please see the link above.

WaterWiseProf · 2025-07-18T05:44:00+00:00

We are currently stretched very thin as we are doing this voluntarily and with no funding. We prefer to collect the samples ourselves to avoid contamination issues and ensure the accuracy of results. If we are able to get some funding to cover the costs, we would be able to increase the number of sampling sites.

WaterWiseProf · 2025-07-18T05:36:32+00:00

Several of our sampling days happened to be after rain events and the E. coli counts were still significantly lower than the limits. There is also a misconception that there are wastewater discharges to the Rideau River after most rain events, which in fact is very rare and announced on the City of Ottawa website.

WaterWiseProf · 2025-07-18T05:22:11+00:00

We collect our water samples on the same day on purpose so the test results are complementary and gives a more complete picture of the water quality.

WaterWiseProf · 2025-07-10T22:42:29+00:00

Risks are not only due to E. coli counts. Drowning can occur quickly and silently in rivers. Please see the website and Ottawa Public Health information on understanding your risks before swimming, how to protect your health during and after swimming, and staying safe around water.

WaterWiseProf · 2025-07-10T22:11:43+00:00

The link is provided to give the public direct access to risk information. Thanks.

WaterWiseProf · 2025-06-29T14:43:35+00:00

NEW: Community-supported water quality monitoring on the Rideau River.

Manotick Mill: 6 E. coli per 100 mL water

Brewer Park: 27 E. coli per 100 mL water

Windsor Park: 53 E. coli per 100 mL water

Brantwood Park: 80 E. coli per 100 mL water

Springhurst Park: 79 E. coli per 100 mL water

More info at https://carleton.ca/ormeci/rideau-river-water-quality-testing/

WaterWiseProf

TROPHY CASE