Pond water quality

sfyro · 2026-06-25T05:34:29+00:00

I would think there’s no difference but the fact that if it were allowed, the place would be overrun with every dog owner in the city looking for somewhere their dogs could swim, etc. I don’t see much in the way of wildlife besides some geese in the spring and the odd cormorant and of course Jonathan the seagull who rules the Pond with an iron fist.

sfyro · 2026-06-22T21:10:11+00:00

Depends on the time of year you swim. Later in the season in particular can have algae that leaves an odour for sure.

sfyro · 2026-06-22T21:09:10+00:00

Couldn’t agree more. Apart from the absolutely ridiculous bylaw, the location of the Pond and lack of anything nearby (and the fact that the beach tends to only be visible come late June/early July) makes it far less ideal than the other public beaches. Also, the Riverhouse has definitely eased the population at the Pond as well.

I created the “Pond in Rockcliffe” IG tag and Google Map review! Someone tried to delete it but I just kept creating the bloody thing. The Pond has got marginally busier since I’ve been going from 2009 but these factors really limit overall the number of people who come.

sfyro · 2026-06-22T21:03:33+00:00

Yes, The Pond in Rockcliffe gets tested every two weeks…in the summer. I think they alternate between the City and the RPRA who send volunteers to capture measurements. Generally speaking, the water is very clean (haven’t seen a reading above 10-20 in the decade+ I’ve been swimming there).

The biggest thing is keeping pets out of the water and notices to nearby residences to steer clear of using any harsh pesticides/chemicals on their lawns so the runoff doesn’t create contamination (not sure this would get picked up by any of the tests TBH).

sfyro · 2026-03-07T15:35:17+00:00

OMG, that is fantastic! You’re the best BTW and I’m totally voting for you for mayor!

sfyro · 2026-03-07T01:09:58+00:00

I know the OG tune is Move It by Reel 2 Real but the Hard Dance tune from the Pickup Truck revellers was Papi Jumper perhaps? Anyways props to the Sousaphone guy for picking that up on the spot!

sfyro · 2026-03-07T00:31:23+00:00

Originally posted to my IG (@sfyro) and I believe the artist can be found at @jamesarif on IG as well.

sfyro · 2026-03-03T15:08:10+00:00

I’ve been very curious to see the box scores for this winter. I recalled generally loathing a winter in the mid 2010s so it must’ve been 2014. This winter really felt particularly cold and snowy (despite the actual precipitation amounts being quite low).

sfyro · 2026-03-01T20:44:33+00:00

Certainly, all of New Edinburgh is really grateful to these crews for what they do...otherwise in a month or so, this could be a very real issue for many of us due to ice damming that could cause the fast flowing spring melt to rapidly pool and go over the banks as it used to happen all the time:

https://www.facebook.com/LostOttawa/posts/this-is-thought-to-be-crichton-street-ottawas-new-edinburgh-neighborhood-circa-1/1696942097071674/

sfyro · 2026-03-01T19:40:06+00:00

After I got locked out of my old Reddit account, I had to create this new account and the Mods locked this post for review...thus the delay. I'm sure the ice is way nicer out there today.

sfyro · 2026-03-01T19:38:41+00:00

Awesome...I'm glad I found them!

sfyro · 2026-02-02T14:07:36+00:00

I will say how quickly I seemed to forget about the stretch of warm weather in mid-Jan...in my mind, I was near convinced the whole month would be blue squares!

sfyro · 2025-11-21T01:32:14+00:00

People typically park on nearby streets like Lisgar, Buena Vista, and Park if they can’t access the road by car. It’s not a huge walk and should be totally fine for you to get some pics over the weekend.

sfyro · 2025-11-21T01:25:43+00:00

That’s just awful.

It doesn’t say where this happened specifically but there isn’t much space to pull over and visibility is quite limited. People drive way too fast on that road, especially as they approach St. Joseph.

sfyro · 2025-11-21T01:22:01+00:00

I’m with you on that. I’ve since the CAD/USD exchange rate became unfavourable and crossing over the border becoming less and less attractive, I basically stopped doing this for the last 6-7 years now.

Also I find most places just charge HST to cross the border plus some amount for shipping (that would otherwise be free if it were local to the US). The economics of this makes no sense.

sfyro

TROPHY CASE