Water Quality and Water Testing

Welcome Back to Love Your Bay Week 2023!

This is the final email that you’ll receive this year to celebrate Love Your Bay Week. We hope that you’ve found the content useful and informative. 

Invasive Phragmites, Eurasian Milfoil, Light Pollution, Garbage on the Shorelines – it’s not all bad news! We get to spend the summers in one of the most beautiful places in the world! It’s what draws us all together every year from across North America and beyond. Long drives, long flights, border crossings, and waits in airports – but it’s worth it!

Today’s topic is about water – how to test that it’s safe to drink, and things we can do to maintain the water quality.

We are fortunate to spend the summers in one of the largest bodies of fresh water in the world. Let’s show our Love to the Bay by testing the safety of your drinking water (if you’re drinking the lake water) and by limiting the use of harmful chemicals and cleaning products that might end up in the water.  

Test Your Drinking Water

Are you drinking treated lake water?
Whatever system you are using to treat your water, it’s important to test the water to ensure that your treatment system is working properly. 

Public Health Ontario (PHO) provides a free water testing service to check for the presence of bacterial indicators of contamination, E. coli and total coliforms in private drinking water systems. This service is intended for the testing of drinking water systems only.

There is a PHO office in Espanola where you can pick up free water test kits and return samples for testing.
Click Here for More Information

Use Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products
Limiting the use of harsh cleaners near the water and around your property protects the natural environment and preserves the quality of the water that we drink, fish, and play in.
Are you looking for eco-friendly cleaning alternatives?

Cleaning Near the Water 
The GBA has endorsed an organization called “Sailors for the Sea” that has a list of non-toxic commercial products and home-made cleaning recipes that are safe for use near the water.
Click Here

Greener Cleaning Products
Visit the David Suzuki Foundation website for more non-toxic home-made recipes, and recommendations on how to shop for greener cleaning products.
Click Here

Thank you for taking the time and care to Love Your Bay every day!