King County public health officials are advising people to avoid the water at three beaches along Lake Washington after high levels of bacteria were reported. Recent water samples from Andrews Bay Beach in Seward Park, Enatai Beach in Bellevue and Houghton Beach in Kirkland indicated the issue and were tested on June 17, according to King County . Seattle Parks and Recreation officials wrote on the social platform X on Thursday that both humans and pets should stay out of the contaminated water.
Bacteria testing is common for bodies of water in King County, especially major lakes that have popular public swimming beaches , like Lake Washington, Lake Sammamish and Green Lake. According to the King County website , water is normally tested weekly on Monday or Tuesday afternoons, with results available later in the week. Often, the bacteria found in the tested waters comes from human, pet and wildlife feces or toxic algae.
The county tests water for bacteria beginning in mid-May and ending in mid-September. “We use the bacteria test results to predict the chance that people will get sick from germs that might be in the water,” the website states. “There are many different types of germs that can come from poop (bacteria, viruses, parasites, etc.
), and it is not possible to test for each one. Instead, we test for one type of bacteria that is easy to measure and is commonly used to predict the risk of getting sick from swimming.” The website also states that swimming in co.
