Warm weather is beach weather, but it's also bacteria weather when it comes to Halifax's beaches.

Residents need to know that summertime can be known as much for its beach closures as for the sunshine.

Monday was a warm and sunny day and little ElslynHill had to stay on shore with Albro Lake beach still closed to swimming.

“My daughter was going to dip her feet in but she was a little upset she couldn't because they told us that it was, uh, there's bacteria in it?” said Elslyn’s mom Shanda Hill.

It should be a busy day here, but the beach is barren save for two lifeguards and one lone rogue swimmer.

Albro Lake beach has been closed since July 18th because of high levels of E. coli in the water, which can make swimmers sick if they swallow it.

This summer. Halifax’s 23 tested beaches have had 10 closures so far.

Luckily for some swimmers, Birch Cove beach re-opened last Friday. It's been closed and re-opened several times this summer.

“It's the only beach that's been open lately, kind of, it's been closed, and we've been trying to find a beach, and this one we came to,” said 11-year-old Skyla.

The city councilor for this area says it's better this year than in the past. Last year, Birch Cove Beach was a repeat offender and was closed more than 30 times.

“We’ve lost a day and a half both times at birch cove this year,” said District 5 Coun. Sam Austin.

Perhaps one of the reasons Birch Cove beach has been closed less frequently than it was last year is a light that turns on a night to discourage geese from spending the evening on the beach.

Water fowl and their waste can cause high E. coli levels. So can human sewage and other animals. Plus, the warm weather helps bacteria to persist.

While Haligonians are used to off-and-on beach closures, the city is trying to get to the root of the problem.

It's hired a consultant to try to trace the exact source of the bacteria.

“They've been out twice in the field already taking sampling and they're also testing all the creeks that flow in to kind of get to that question, what's going on in the lake?” Austin said.

Austin would like fewer closures and more healthy waterways.

“This is part of summer, right, Lake Banook,” Austin said. “It's a lake that if it’s not healthy, that we will all feel in a dramatic way in our day to day in the summertime.”

The expanded study doesn't look specifically at Albro Lake, however, leaving it up to the city’s tests to determine if it will stay closed at the height of the summer.

An outside firm was contracted for $150,000 to do the testing on Lake Banook and Lake Micmac. Austin says the results should be in by this fall, so they can finally figure out the source of the bacteria.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Heidi Petracek.