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Lake Merritt has banned swimming in Oakland's lake since 1897.Apparently, that didn't stop a couple from enjoying their holiday weekend by seemingly having a race swimming in the unfiltered water!
Besides being illegal, there are numerous reasons why many would never swim in Lake Merritt. For starters, in the early 1900's 90% of the cityโs sewage wound up in Lake Merrittโs waters. That's no longer the case now but some sewage can still end up in the lake in instances where a pipe bursts and there is leakage or seeping. Also, there have been reports of people getting scabies after swimming in the lake!
Locals have always avoided the "Lake of 1,000" smells and reacted to the viral video on social media with comments like:
Even the craziest crackheads wonโt swim in Lake Merritt. Hope the whites who went for a โsplashโ today get west nile virus
Iโm not about to play with these white people swimming in Lake Merritt! In my whole life, shooo in my whole Grandaddyโs life, never have I ever seen anyone swim in this lake.. it stank, dirty, like Iโm so alarmed lol like whyyyyy