With summer right around the corner, King County officials this week will begin monitoring water quality at popular lake beaches using an updated process to decide when to close and reopen them.
In past years, environmental scientists collected water samples every week at more than two dozen beaches from mid-May to mid-September, Public Health — Seattle & King County said in an online news release.
Scientists would test water for bacteria that indicates fecal pollution that usually comes from people, pets or wildlife such as geese. Scientists would also sort through data, looking for potential public health risks, the agency said.
But this process — which took a higher number of tests showing poor quality to close a beach and a higher number of tests showing good water quality to reopen a beach — is based on “now-outdated scientific guidelines,” the health agency said.
The new standards for opening and closing King County beaches are based more on real-time water-quality data the agency receives each week — which means beaches will close and open faster.
So while swimmers may see beach-closure signs go up more often, the signs will likely be up for shorter durations, the agency said.
“And overall, we expect beaches will be open for about the same amount of time as under the old decision-making protocol,” Public Health said.
Public Health urges beach visitors to help keep the water free from harmful bacteria in the following ways:
- Don’t feed geese and ducks near the beach. Feeding them makes them poop, which makes the water quality worse.
- Always shower before swimming.
- Make sure babies and toddlers wear good-quality swim diapers.
- Report water quality concerns to your local parks department.
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