Dogs sniff out bacteria contamination in Washington city’s water

The city of Kirkland, Wash. is employing man’s best friend to sniff out the source of bacteria in its water, KING 5 News reported.

The dogs, which are trained to identify the presence of human fecal matter, will search for the contaminants in water samples taken from Juanita Creek. Any samples marked by the dogs will be sent to a lab for further testing.

Karen Reynolds of Environmental Canine Service Inc., the company providing the dogs, said that the bacteria pose a threat not only to human swimmers, but also to fish and shellfish.

Most fecal bacteria contamination sources from broken septic tanks and wastewater piping.