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Britannia Beach has been closed to swimmers after water tested for elevated levels of E. coli bacteria.

“When elevated levels of E. coli is detected in the water, it is probable that other disease causing organisms are also present,” said Ottawa Public Health. “These organisms can result in skin, ear, throat or gastrointestinal illnesses.”

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Britannia Beach is one of five supervised municipal beaches where water is collected daily for testing. The other four beaches — Mooney’s Bay, Westboro, Petrie Island East Bay and Petrie Island River all have acceptable levels of E. coli.

Ottawa Public Health says that the results of water tests are not available immediately, as they take at least 18 hours to process in the laboratory. No-swim advisories are issued based on water samples taken from the previous day, and knowledge of water quality at each beach in previous years, as well as the impact of rainfall and bird activity in the area.

No-swimming advisories are issued if the geometric mean of five water samples taken on the previous day is higher than 200 E. coli per 100 ml of water. The results for June 17 found a mean sample of 261 at Britannia Beach. All other beaches had mean samples of less than 50.

Lifeguards began supervising municipal beaches on Saturday and will continue to supervise the beaches from noon to 7 p.m. daily until Aug. 26.

To check on daily water test results, visit ottawapublichealth.ca.