Swim Beach Monitoring Program
The City of Mercer Island's water quality testing program has been in effect since 2003. For the past three years, the results from the testing program revealed very low quantities of bacteria in the water at our beaches.
| Water Quality Testing Formula |
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Bacteria Counts Legend |
| The numbers we use to evaluate the swimming beaches were adopted by the EPA in 1976; a geometric mean of <200 cfu/100 ml, 90% of samples <400 cfu/100 ml. This program also uses the criteria of all samples <1000 cfu/100 ml. |
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low concern |
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moderate concern |
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high concern |
Definitions:
- CFU’s (Colony Forming Units) are a unit of measure. After incubation, bluish colonies of bacteria should appear on the sample dish. It is then necessary to count all of the colonies that are in each dish. A calculation must be performed to determine the number of colony forming units per 100 milliliters of sample.
- E-Coli: One of hundreds of strains of the bacterium Escherichia coli. Although most strains are harmless and live in the intestines of healthy humans and animals, this strain produces a powerful toxin and can cause severe illness.
- Fecal Coliform: Bacteria from excrement, fecal coliform are not necessarily harmful by themselves, but are indicative of the presence of other disease-causing organisms that may cause diarrhea, vomiting, or a more serious illness.
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| Questions? email the Parks and Recreation Department. |
Water Quality Test Results
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Groveland Beach
SE 58th St & 80th Ave SE |
Luther Burbank
2040 84th Ave SE |
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Date
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E. coli |
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E.coli |
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| 06/18/10 |
2 |
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3 |
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| 7/10/10 |
< 2 |
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1 |
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| 7/12/10 |
<2 |
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2 |
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| 7/19/10 |
<2 |
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2 |
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Links:
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