It’s a Godless 90 degrees. You’ve escaped the inferno of your non-airconditioned apartment and high-tailed it to Madison Beach. The dock is waiting for you to jump off of it into the cool of Lake Washington. You even waited 30 minutes after eating. But there’s a problem: The beach is closed. The water is full of shit. Welcome to hell.

All summer, beaches in King County shut down due to bacteria and toxins in the water.

The issue isn’t with the water quality in the county’s big lakes as a whole, but with certain shorelines (and a few smaller lakes). The bacteria and toxins fluctuate day to day, which