Capital Daily for Friday, July 31

Island Health told swimmers to stay out of Langford Lake on Thursday after a water sample near the Leigh Road boat ramp came back at 732 E. coli per 100 ml.

That's the second-highest count recorded at the lake since the CRD and Island Health started testing in 2014. Only July 2018 was worse, at 1,100. The health authority issues an advisory once E. coli passes 400 per 100 ml, so Monday's sample cleared that bar with room to spare.

Langford Lake joins Gonzales Bay Beach and Cadboro Gyro Park Beach, both flagged July 27 for elevated enterococci, a fecal bacterium that can raise the risk of illness after water contact. Both beaches tested at 100 per 100 ml, against a threshold of 70.

The lakes and beaches aren't closed. But with older advisories still in place at Thetis Lake, Prior Lake, Beaver Lake and Ross Bay, the list of Greater Victoria water you shouldn't swim in keeps growing.

The smell showed up right after the power went out. Late Wednesday morning at Gordon Head Recreation Centre, staff in the pool area noticed an unusual odour following a brief outage, cleared the deck, and closed the pool as a precaution.

Two of them ended up in hospital. Both were treated by paramedics on scene, assessed at hospital, and improved through the day. They've since returned to work, the district says.

Saanich Fire attended, WorkSafeBC was notified, and the district called it an isolated incident with no criminal activity involved. What it won't say is what the odour actually was. The pool doesn't use chlorine gas, the district noted, and it reopened to the public by 5:30 that same afternoon.

The non-answer lands harder because of April, when eight people were taken to hospital after an uncontrolled release of chlorine gas at Victoria's Crystal Pool. That cause is still under investigation.