A public beach is a designated swimming area for the general public that is owned and/or operated by a municipality. We work with municipalities to determine what beaches will be sampled each year. If a municipality requests to add a new beach to our sampling program, one of our public health inspectors will conduct an on-site assessment of the beach for safety and suitability purposes (e.g. beach signage, sectioned off swimming area, water safety/rescue equipment, lifeguard chairs, etc.). If the water is used for recreational purposes and the public health inspector determines it is safe for swimmers (e.g. no risk of possible swimmer entanglement or visibility issues, no extreme drop-offs, etc.), the beach will be added to our sampling program.