Queensland and Bayswater beaches could reopen to bathers this week, pending test results

Two of Nova Scotia’s 25 patrolled beaches were closed over the weekend for fun activities in the sun.

“We got the results on Friday and we closed them immediately,” Paul D’Eon, director of the Nova Scotia Lifeguard Service, said of public beaches in Queensland in Halifax County and Bayswater in Lunenburg County.

“They are closed until we can do a test that meets the guidelines,” D’Eon said of the finding of some enterococcal bacteria that exceeded guidelines on the two beaches.

Enterococcal bacteria are found in salt water, as is the case in Queensland and Bayswater. The similar E. coli bacteria is found in fresh water.

D’Eon said the water on both beaches was retested later Friday and the samples were sent to the lab. He expects to have the results back by Monday or Tuesday at the latest.

Samples must be incubated in the laboratory for three days before results can be issued.

Bayswater and Queensland are the only provincial patrolled beaches that are closed due to high bacteria counts.

The lifeguard provides supervision and bacteriological sampling on the 25 beaches. The province’s environmental health department interprets sample results and takes action with the regional health officer to ensure swimmers are protected from waters with higher levels of bacteria than specified in Canadian guidelines.

Only beaches supervised by lifeguards are tested.

The presence of enterococci or E. coli bacteria above acceptable guidelines in recreational waters indicates that feces are present and, if ingested, can cause illness.

“It’s certainly not really serious, but you can get gastrointestinal upset, especially if you swallow it, and if you have open wounds, it can irritate that,” D’Eon said. “We suspect that the next round of testing should be in order. At least we hope.”

Symptoms associated with infection from ingestion of water containing bacteria may include diarrhea, vomiting, fever, abdominal cramps or other conditions such as ear, eye or skin irritation, the provincial Environment Department’s website says.

Most people recover, but anyone experiencing severe or unusual symptoms should seek the help of a health professional.

The department advises people not to swim at closed beaches because such beaches are typically not supervised during a closure and “the presence of bacteria in the water at higher than acceptable levels can lead to illness if water is swallowed during swimming or splashing.”

In Queensland and Bayswater, it meant beach closures at a time when people would flock to those swimming areas.

“They’re busy,” D’Eon said of the two beaches.