Don’t count out swimming at Hamilton’s public beaches this summer just yet.

A new water quality study, with research starting today, is aiming to help people know when and where it’s safe to swim.

The city’s public health officials, along with the McMaster Institute for Environment and Health, will try to determine whether there’s a link between water safety and environmental factors, such as water temperature, wave height and wind speed.

“There might be a relationship. It’s too early to say. We’re really hoping that there is an environmental predictor of water quality,” said Eric Mathews, manager of public health’s protection division.

Investigators will study the beaches at the harbour and Lake Ontario.

You can spot them taking water samples using long poles with a bottle attached to the end.

However, researchers may have to collect samples for two or three seasons to get a usable pattern of data, Mathews said.

Each beach is different and will yield a variety of results, he added.

“From our perspective, the Hamilton Harbour is a different water body from Lake Ontario. What applies to the harbour won’t apply in the lake.”

But even if officials find environmental factors have no effect on water quality, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, he says.

“That’s good information, too. It’s all moving in the right direction.”

Past initiatives have proven to dramatically increase water quality, and that’s an aim this time, Mathews said.

In 2007, Bayfront’s beach was closed 93 per cent of the time from Victoria Day to Labour Day.

From 2002 to 2006, it was closed for an average six days out of seven during swimming season because of bacterial contamination.

Despite years of such frequent beach closures, Pier 4 may be open for business this summer.

After placing bird exclusion barriers there — previous research suggested bird poo added more E. coli than treated sewage — water quality has significantly improved.

Water there was 85 per cent safe for swimming last year — up from 40 per cent in 2005, Mathews said.

It’s now at about the same quality as Lake Ontario, which has a “very good” swimming safety rate of more than 80 per cent, he said.

“Knowing the water quality is a pretty important criteria for people,” Mathews said.

“Who knows what summer’s going to bring?”

The study’s results will be posted to hamilton.ca/safewater as they become available.