Swim Guide |

Introduction

There are many beautiful locations to swim in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley, including the Fraser River and areas around the Burrard Inlet as well as numerous lakes. Ideally, our beaches would be safe and swimmable every day. Unfortunately, due to bacteriological and contamination concerns, certain beaches may be unsafe for swimming at certain times.

See our interactive map for many beaches in lower British Columbia as well as our smart phone “Swim Guide” — a free app that shows you BC beaches and monitoring results if available.

Water quality at local beaches, several Fraser River sites, and across British Columbia, is extensively monitored during the summer months, between May and September, and continued with less frequency throughout the remainder of the year. Throughout the swimming season, recreational beaches are monitored on a weekly basis. The following information is provided for those who swim recreationally in the Fraser River or the around the lower mainland.

British Columbia health departments routinely test water quality found at primary (swimming) and secondary (non-swimming) contact beaches across the province, following Canadian Recreational Water Quality Guidelines. The decision to carry out microbiological testing is done by each local health authority. Most health departments in the interior test routinely from May to September (except for Vancouver Island Health Authority, which tests from June to September). Tests performed count E.coli (fecal coliforms as indicator organisms). When routine testing takes place, it is done weekly, with a minimum of 5 test samples performed during the month, and warnings are then posted if the 30-day geometric mean rises above 200 coliforms per 100 ml.

False Creek, a non-swimming beach in Vancouver, is allowed 1,000 coliforms per 100 ml. Northern Health Authority does not routinely test beaches for coliforms.

Beaches aren’t closed usually, even when coliform levels are higher than 200. Instead, red warning signs are posted. What does this mean to you? Coliforms indicate the presence of other bacteria, viruses, and parasites, which is what can make you sick. General coliforms are present even in clean water, so they are only a tiny concern at low levels and may indicate compost. At higher levels, swallowing or swimming in contaminated water may result in cramps and diarrhea. Two common water borne diseases are Giardiasis and and Cryptosporidiosis.

Swimming Advisories

Information for the public on recreational drinking water quality:

http://www.interiorhealth.ca/health-and-safety.aspx?id=540