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E. coli above guidelines at Birds Hill; algae at Pelican Lake

WINNIPEG - A little dab’ll do ya: E. coli and algae cropped up at some Manitoba beaches, but the water’s still safe to swim in.

Although E. coli counts stood higher than recommended in water tests at Victoria Beach on Monday, by Wednesday the bacteria had fallen back to safe levels.

At Birds Hill Park beach, however, Wednesday water samples also showed higher-than-guideline levels of bacteria. Provincial experts are sampling the Bird’s Hill Park water again on Friday, and results are expected on Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, while blue-green algae cells flourished in water samples at Pelican Lake, the levels for the algae’s toxin, microcystin-LR, were below the recommended guideline at all three of the lake’s beaches.

Swimmers should avoid swimming in water where large algae blooms are visible. Pets should not drink the water near algae blooms. Water quality information for all beaches in Manitoba can be found on the province's Water Stewardship website.


 

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