After spending “the dog days” of summer testing the water quality at D.C. swimming pools, I have decidedly mixed feelings about this footage of neighborhood mascots taking the final dip of the season. Our tests found more than a third of the pools visited were incubating harmful bacteria just like giant Petri dishes.

There’s a definite gross-out factor in letting the doggies in for a dip. Though I’m not quite sure who should be more grossed out - the pooches or the people - particularly given the footage of a happy-go-lucky mutt named Taxi Dog lapping up the pool water. Decide for yourself: We’ve got photos and video courtesy of Wayan Vota and the Petworth Listserv. Thanks Wayan!

Officials at the city's Department of Health finally released the list of the pools its inspectors shut down this year. As a followup to our summer pool coverage, here’s the lowdown: 

The indoor pool at the University of the District of Columbia was closed Mar. 4 “for leaks,” according to DOH spokesperson Dena Iverson. Apparently, water has been seeping out of the pool and into the ground for years prior to the shutdown, says UDC spokesperson Alan Etter, who says school officials have hired a contractor and hope to reopen the pool next spring.

“For years, they’d patch it,” he says. Now, “they just want to fix it right.”

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