I’m a water quality expert, but I didn’t start swimming in the Rideau River until the first summer of COVID. I live and work in Ottawa, and when the pools and gyms closed, I decided to try the river for the first time instead. It surprised me how lovely and beautiful it was to swim in. In Manotick, where I live, the water is a lovely green, and ducks often paddle alongside me. I swim whenever I have time—sometimes on my lunch break or in the afternoons. It’s a way to immerse myself in nature, and it’s so good for my body and mental health. I can swim along the shore and wave to my neighbours. I want more people to feel good about swimming in the river, too.

Unfortunately, the perception of the Rideau River isn’t great. It flows right through the city and has the same story as countless other urban waterways: in the 1960s and 70s, industrial pollution forced public beaches to close down. Around 20 years ago, Ottawa had the “Sewergate” scandal where, for two weeks, hundreds of millions of litres of untreated sewage and wastewater were discharged into the Ottawa River due to a technical malfunction. After that, the city invested hundreds of millions of dollars in wastewater infrastructure and sewer-water management to clean up the water. It was the first big city in Canada to do so.

Pretty much all urban lakes and rivers in Canada, including the Red River in Winnipeg and the St. Lawrence, are far cleaner........

© Macleans