Water quality at Windsor beaches can change by the hour: study

University of Windsor scientists are ready to reveal the result of a massive study designed to better understand, and protect against, water pollutants atthe region's public beaches.

Last year, scientists at the Great Lakes Institute of Environmental Research elicited help fromcitizen scientists, who collected water samples in hopes ofproviding more accurate health readings that can better determine when beaches should closefor swimming.

• Citizen scientists needed to revolutionize beach water testing

The researchers needed people who could collect daily samples of water. Paying for that kind of staffing would be a financial nightmare.

By calling on the public to help, researchers were able to get the data they needed at a much cheaper price, explainedDaniel Heath, a professor of biology and the executive director of the Great Lakes Institute.

"We wanted to see how the bacterial communities changed on a day-to-day basis," he said. "Initial results show the bacterial communities change really quickly."

Though bacteria can change over seasons, it can also change from hour to hour, Heath explained. That means current weekly water tests conducted by the health unit, which determines when beaches close, cannot capture in full detail the complexity of pollutants.

More of the findings will be released at a public meeting Wednesday at 1 p.m.at the Great Lakes Environment Research Centre.