These may indeed be the dog days of summer dog poop days, that is.
Vancouver Coastal Health is telling swimmers to stay out of the water at two popular beaches because of elevated e. coli counts.
The elevated counts are likely due to the prolonged warm weather, increased human and animal (dogs, geese, etc.) activities, particularly with the large numbers of people and boats over the last two weeks, says a press release.
Beach Closure Notices are up at Second Beach and Sunset Beach and there are also elevated counts at Jericho Beach, Ambleside Beach, Whytecliff Park and Eagle Harbour.
Repeated daily sampling will be carried out at these locations until the counts drop below the Canadian Guidelines for Recreational Water Quality concentration limit for swimming.
The elevated E. coli counts are not related to operation of the regions sewerage and drainage system. Vancouver Coastal Health and City staff have been investigating to ensure that there are no system failures in the sewer system which might have contributed to the situation. Nothing unusual or untoward has been identified.
