In the spring of 2020, the Vaseux Lake Stewardship Association applied for a $6000.00 grant from the Okanagan Basin Water Board to conduct water quality analysis on Vaseux Lake over a two-year period.
Our proposal was to sample monthly throughout the two-year period and to send samples to CARO (a professional lab) in Kelowna for a complete water analysis quarterly.
The grant was approved, testing equipment was purchased and the monitoring has begun. We now have test results available starting in June 2020. The water test results are included in the following tables with explanations included below.
Water Quality Test Results
| Date | pH | Temp. (C) | Nitrate (mg/l) | Phosphate (mg/l) | Dissolved O2 (mg/l) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 20/20 | 8.00 | 23 | <1 | .36 | 9 |
| July 20 | 8.40 | 25 | <1 | .12 | 8 |
| Aug 18 | 8.17 | 28 | <0.01 | <.005 | 7 |
| Sept. 13 | 8.3 | 20 | <1 | .16 | 10 |
| Oct. 22 | 8.4 | 12.0 | 2 | .14 | 12 |
| Nov. 23 | 8.07 | 8.0 | <.01 | .006 | 12 |
| Dec. 22 | 8.2 | 5.0 | <1 | .12 | 13 |
| Jan 27/21 | 8.3 | 4.0 | <.01 | .24 | 14 |
| Feb. 23 | 8.1 | 5.0 | < .01 | .005 | 12 |
| Mar 22 | 8.2 | 5.0 | < .01 | .04 | 10 |
| April 27 | 8.0 | 11 | <1 | .02 | 11 |
| May 25 | 8.16 | 14 | < .01 | <.005 | 11 |
| June 27 | 8.1 | 23 | <1 | .08 | 9 |
| July 28 | 8.6 | 26 | <1 | .24 | 10 |
| Aug 24 | 8.34 | 25 | < .01 | < .005 | 7 |
| Sept 21 | 8.4 | 17 | 2 | .04 | 11 |
| Oct 26 | 8.5 | 13 | 1 | .08 | 9 |
| Nov 17 | 7.97 | 8.0 | .022 | .0497 | 10 |
| Dec 24 | 7.8 | 0 | <1 | .16 | 9 |
| Jan 25/22 | 8.0 | 2.0 | <1 | .04 | 13 |
| Feb 15 | 8.16 | 2.0 | 2.77 | n/a | 12 |
| Mar 21 | 8.3 | 5.0 | 1 | .04 | 13 |
| Apr 21 | 8.3 | 9.0 | 1 | 0.4 | 12 |
| May 16 | 7.48 | 9.0 | 0.024 | 0.0285 | 12 |
| Jun 23 | 8.3 | 18.0 | 2 | .04 | 9 |
Coliform Test Results
| Date | North End | Campground Beach | East Shore | South Shore |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 18/20 | Total Coliform | 9800 | 7270 | 642 | 775 |
| E. Coli | 5 | 28 | 3 | 4 | |
| Nov 23/20 | Total Coliform | 10,000+ | |||
| E. Coli | 3 | ||||
| Feb 23/21 | Total Coliform | 20 | |||
| E. Coli | <10 | ||||
| May 25/21 | Total Coliform | 503 | 459 | 57 | |
| E. Coli | 17 | 10 | 1 | ||
| July 18/21 | E. Coli | 110 | 12 | ||
| Aug 24/21 | Total Coliform | 1300 | 2420 | 980 | |
| E. Coli | 10 | 3 | 1 | ||
| Nov 17/21 | Total Coliform | 344 | |||
| E. Coli | 6 | ||||
| Feb 15/22 | Total Coliform | 281 | |||
| E. Coli | 8 | ||||
| May 15/22 | Total Coliform | 73 | |||
| E. Coli | 19 | ||||
| Jun 23/22 | E. Coli | 48 | 152 | ||
We are particularly interested in monitoring nitrate and phosphate levels since they are nutrients that contribute to excessive plant growth. In addition, we monitor temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen.
Due to the heavy usage of the Vaseux Lake campground and the other populated shorelines during the summer, we are also testing for coliform bacteria during that period.
Coliforms are a group of bacteria that are almost everywhere, eg. soil, vegetation, sewage, manure, etc.
E. coli are bacteria that are commonly present in the intestinal tracts of warm-blooded animals and humans. Since E. coli is an indicator of fecal contamination of the recreational water, it is potentially disease-causing. It has been shown that there is a risk of contracting illness to swimmers when there is a high concentration of E. coli present within recreational waters.
The guidelines for Canadian Recreational Water Quality are in the summary table below.
Typically, when test results exceed 400 E. coli/ 100 ml in a single sample or 200 E. coli/ 100 ml in an average of a minimum of five samples, beaches in B.C. are posted with an advisory.