Hennepin County Tests Water Safety at Maple Grove Beach

Hennepin County officials routinely take samples from area lakes to check for waterborne illnesses. On Wednesday, scientists inspected the waters at the Weaver Lake swimming beach in Maple Grove.

Environmentalists take samples from 31 public swimming beaches each week, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, to ensure lakes are safe to swim in.

At the Weaver Lake beach, interns with the Hennepin County Public Health Department collected about 48 samples to send off to a lab in New Ulm to test for E. coli.

“What we’re trying to achieve is getting a representative water sample from the greater body of water,” explained Tom Moran.

Hennepin County Public Health intern Tom Moran took samples from Weaver Lake on Wednesday.

Testing for waterborne illnesses

Bacteria and viruses in the lake can make you sick. They can cause flu-like symptoms and eye and ear infections. If officials find high levels of E. coli in the water samples, they close the beach.

“We want to make sure when people are swimming in the water they are aware of the risk that may be with that and also just making sure they are that it’s safe to swim in,” said Zamzam Abdirahman, environmentalist with the Hennepin County Public Health Department.

Officials say Weaver Lake is safe to swim in. For an updated list of beach conditions head to the Hennepin County website.

Maple Grove