New citizen science water monitoring hub launches in Kingston
August 11, 2020 – Kingston, ON - The Kingston Monitoring Hub, launched by Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, is monitoring recreational water quality at two locations in Lake Ontario along the Kingston shoreline. The Kingston Hub tests for E.coli bacteria at each location once per week and the results indicate if the sites pass or fail the standards for recreational water quality. The results are available to the public on the free website and app, Swim Guide.
The two locations along the Kingston shoreline currently monitored are:
Olympic Harbor Beach
Hospital Beach
The Kingston Monitoring Hub was launched in 2020 by Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, an initiative of Swim Drink Fish. Volunteer citizen scientists assist Swim Drink Fish staff to monitor these locations during the summer months. The Kingston Hub follows the successful model of the Toronto Monitoring Hub, which was established by Lake Ontario Waterkeeper in 2016 and in 2019 saw 550 volunteer citizen scientists help monitor the waters of Lake Ontario.
Space for the Kingston Monitoring Hub lab is generously provided by the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston. Monitoring activities started later this year as a result of the restrictions around the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 sampling season officially launched in July.
Lake Ontario Waterkeeper is the longest running initiative of Swim Drink Fish. Waterkeeper promotes water literacy, informed-decision making and acts as a model for protecting swimmable, drinkable, fishable water in Canada and beyond.
Swim Drink Fish was able to establish the Kingston Hub with funding received from Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Great Lakes Protection Initiative.
Quote
“Testing this summer is important for many reasons including the meaningful support of the community and public officials at the City of Kingston, Kingston Utilities and KFL&A Public Health. It underscores how important the waterfront is to the community and how deeply people care about access to water. Our efforts to test more, discover more and share more, will result in protecting and restoring more of Lake Ontario.”
– Mark Mattson, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper and President of Swim Drink Fish
Quick Facts
Sample results are published on Swim Guide, a free app and website for people looking for beaches: www.theswimguide.org.
The Kingston Hub is one of five hubs established by Swim Drink Fish, with one in Vancouver and the other four in Ontario. The hubs in Ontario operate thanks to funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Great Lake Protection Initiative.
The Kingston Monitoring Hub follows the Operational Approaches for Recreational Water Guideline, 2018, set by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care.
E.coli is an indicator bacteria for fecal contamination in waters. Waters with elevated E.coli counts pose an increased risk of contracting waterborne illnesses for recreational water users.
The Kingston Monitoring Hub is following the Ontario Public Health recommendations for social distancing, wearing masks, frequently washing or sanitizing hands, and completing a COVID-19 self-assessment prior to each volunteer shift.
Swim Drink Fish is a registered charity that uses communications technology to inspire people around the world to explore, understand, and protect their waters.
Swim Guide is also an initiative of Swim Drink Fish. A free website and app, it is the most popular beach information service in the world, with a growing community of 5 million users.
This project was undertaken with financial support of the Government of Canada through the federal Department of Environment and Climate Change.
Ce projet a été realisé avec l’appui financier du gouvernement du Canada agissant par l’entremise du ministère fédéral de l’Environnement et du Changement climatique.
Image
Click on image for a high-resolution version
Photo credit instructions: “Photo provided by Swim Drink Fish.”
Hospital Beach, one of the sites monitored by the Kingston Monitoring Hub.
Additional Links
Kingston Monitoring Hub open data - access the raw data in a machine readable format
Environment and Canada Climate Change’s Great Lakes Protection Initiative