It’s an app that tracks crap, among other things.
Operated locally by the Vancouver-based charity Fraser Riverkeeper, the Waterkeeper Swim Guide app allows users to monitor water quality conditions at 7,000 beaches across the world.
More than 1,000 beaches in Canada are in the free app’s database, including 250 in B.C.
The information provided is aggregated by local waterkeeper groups and provincial health authorities, and keeps tabs on water quality indicators like and E. coli and Enterococci levels, both of which can sicken swimmers if counts climb higher than 200 bacteria per 100 ml of water.
“A lot of people really appreciate the app and the insight it gives them,” said Fraser Riverkeeper’s Joe Daniels. “A lot of them don’t automatically think about checking water quality before going down to the beach and having that app is very useful and handy.”
The app gives users the option of searching for beaches by name, or by browsing for them on a map of Vancouver. Info around a beach’s history of bacteria testing is also provided, along with options for users to report pollution, litter or other unsafe conditions.
The guide suggests Third and Jericho beaches are the most consistently clean beaches in Vancouver, while Trout Lake and the Oasis at Wreck Beach rank as some of the worst.
Daniels said a number of variables influence poor water quality: large concentrations of water fowl, boaters dumping waste, sewer run off and even those who don’t clean up their dog waste.
“If all this waste gets into the water, it creates an E. coli bloom and makes the water unsafe,” Daniels said.
The app was developed three years ago by the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper group and shared with affiliate organizations across the world. It was updated earlier this summer and is now in its third iteration. The app has close to 24,000 users in B.C. alone and more than 500,000 globally, according to Daniels.
“Our main goal is protecting users who are using the beaches and making sure they’re safe,” Daniels said. “It’s not so much profit-motivated as it is to keep people aware of water quality issues and make sure they’re informed if there are advisories on their beaches so that they don’t get sick.”
The app is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
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