Parlee Beach gets same-day test results of water quality, but public can't see them
It is an 'essential step,' Bill Ross of the Red Dot Assocation in Shediac says of timely testing
A trial water-testing program at Parlee Beach is producing same-day results — they're just not provided to anyone thinking of a swim.
It's frustrating that swimmers don't have access to same-day data about water quality at Parlee Beach, said Bill Ross, a resident of Shediac and a member of the Red Dot Association of Shediac Bay, which has followed water problems in the area.
"It's important that we have a test result in a timely manner," he said.
In a phone conversation, Ross said he was aware a pilot project involving same-day water testing was in progress, but unaware of any details, including data collection.
The beach on the Northumberland Strait has had a long and rocky history of water-quality problems, with fecal counts some years that exceeded limits and forced the provincial park to warn swimmers away for days at a time.
So far this year, the beach has posted three No Swimming advisories, two in June, and the most recent on Friday. In each case, the advisory was based on samples taken for testing the day before.
The test results shared with the public are culture-based and take 24 hours, from sampling to being posted at the beach or online, the Environment Department says.
The pilot project that began at Parlee last summer uses a different kind of test, called a qPCR test, which stands for quantitative polymerase chain reaction, said Clarissa Andersen, spokesperson for the Environment Department.
These results can be available in a little over three hours, said Jeremy Duguay, an applications scientist at LuminUltra, a biological diagnostic testing company with headquarters in Fredericton.
The qPCR method works by using DNA technology, Duguay said.
It "allows you to select an organism based on a unique DNA signature," he said. From this, a lab can to quantify how much of a particular organism is present in a sample.
When asked what the Environment Department's concerns are about making the pilot's daily test results available to the public, Andersen directed a reporter to a website where the results of the culture-based tests are posted.
The culture method is used by some beaches across the country, she said.
Andersen said the pilot project will continue this summer, but no decision has been made about whether to use it after that.
For the Red Dot Association, which has been tracking the water quality issues at Parlee Beach since 2014, the new testing method is an 'essential step."
"So I'm hopeful," Ross said.
Beaches in North America have been struggling with the 24-hour delay in water results "for a long time," said Gregary Ford of the Swim Drink Fish organization, a group that helps educate people on the importance of clean water for swimming, drinking and fishing.
If regularly used, the qPCR technology can help officials understand the source of pollution in specific waters, and "do something about it," Ford said.
In a news release earlier this month, the Department of Tourism announced that $4 million would be spent on work at Parlee Beach Provincial Park.
The work includes a new storm water collection system, "which will direct runoff to a pumping facility where it will be treated with cartridge filters and undergo UV disinfection."
The announcement from Tourism Minister Tammy Scott-Wallace didn't mention the new water-testing technology.
Corrections
- An earlier version of this story incorrectly had Clarissa Andersen of the Environment Department saying the qPCR testing could provide results in a little over three hours. In fact, it was LuminUltra scientist Jeremy Duguay who explained how the testing worked.Jul 16, 2024 12:03 PM AT
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