Human waste behind E. coli issue in Lower Sackville's First Lake, report finds

Human waste is to blame for high levels of E. coli bacteria at First Lake in Lower Sackville, N.S., according to a report commissioned by the Halifax Regional Municipality.

A popular beach on the lake was removed from the municipality's beach supervision program in 2020 because of high bacteria levels, so no lifeguards have been monitoring the swimming area and the water isn't regularly tested by the municipality.

"There is some connection somewhere, some broken pipe, something that is causing human waste to go into the lake," Paul Russell, the municipal councillor for the area, told CBC News.

"Now that we know that is the problem, we can move forward with identifying very specifically where it is, and fixing it very specifically."

Halifax Water will pinpoint the source of the human waste and will find a solution to fix it.

On Friday, a warm and sunny day after weeks of rain, people were swimming at the lake, seemingly unaware of the high bacteria.

"I'd never seen any signs that the beach was closed or the water was closed. As you can see, everyone is swimming in the water," said Karen Bishop, who was there with her daughter.

Bishop said another lakegoer warned her about the water.

"An elderly woman approached me and said, 'don't go in the water' and that's when I got concerned about my heavily pregnant daughter."

There are signs, but they give mixed messages. One on a path near the beach says "no swimming" but another at the beach says, "swim at your own risk." 

"We probably need more signage.... I started the discussions a few weeks ago with people to say, 'this is helpful but not effective,'" Russell said.