If you’re planning a trip to go swimming in the next few days, you’ll want to stay away from Merrickville Beach.
The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit has included it on its list of beaches that aren’t safe to swim in, as part of its water sample testing program.
Every week, samples are collected from beaches all over the region and tested for e. coli bacteria, which can cause ear, eye and throat infections if you’re exposed to high concentrations of it.
Signs have been posted outside the beach warning swimmers to go elsewhere. Two other beaches are also listed as unsafe this week, Almonte Beach and Riverside Beach in Carleton Place.
The water testing program runs every week until the end of August.