Water quality testing takes place each summer by dedicated volunteers. The same six locations on Georgian Bay have been tested for water quality for quite a few years. Volunteers go by boat to take a temperature reading, a depth clarity assessment (using a sechi dish) and take a water sample from each of the 6 locations. The samples are kept on ice until they are put into coli plates to be heated in an incubator at a consistent temperature for approximately 26 hours. Then the coli plates are read to see which ones have turned blue (this indicates the amount of coliform in the water) and how many of these blue wells fluoresce under a black light (this indicates the amount of E. coli in the water). The testing takes place as early as June and into September. There are usually about 5 assessments done over the summer season. These results are tabulated into MPN of total coliform and total E. Coli, and submitted to the Township of the Archipelago, where they keep records to get an idea of the changes that occur from year to year. For more details about safe Escherichia coli levels and safe coliform levels please refer to the following websites and articles;  http://epa.gov/solec/indicator_sheets/ecoli.pdf  http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/pubs/water-eau/guide_water-1992-guide_eau/section3-eng.php  http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/e-coli-infection-topic-overview  https://engineering.purdue.edu/SafeWater/watershed/ecoli.html#safe

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Skerryvore Ratepayers Association
Box 52, Nobel, Ontario, Canada POG 1G0

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