BREMERTON — An 82,000-gallon combined sewage spill resulted in a no-contact advisory for the Port Washington Narrows and Sinclair Inlet on Thursday — the latest in a series of waste spills reported in Bremerton this winter.

The Kitsap Public Health District is advising residents to avoid contact with water in the affected area, recommending against swimming, wading or direct skin contact with water.

The no-contact advisory remains in effect through Wednesday, according to a press release Thursday afternoon.

Bremerton Public Works reported the sewage spill involves approximately 82,400 gallons.

The spill resulted from a bar screen that didn't function properly at the city's Eastside Combined Sewer Overflow Treatment Plant, said Bremerton Public Works Director Tom Knuckey. That treatment plant operates when there are high flows in the city's sewage system, the result of heavy rainfall in Kitsap has seen the past few days.

Knuckey said it took city workers 20 minutes to identify the issue, but in that time rainwater and sewage surcharged from the plant. The overflow involved "mostly rainwater," he said.

December, the city of Bremerton reported two back-to-back sewage spills near Kitsap Lake and the Dyes Inlet, both of which city officials say were quickly resolved. A 15,000-gallon sewage overflow hit the Port Washington Narrows just a week earlier, following a barrage of rain that hit the Puget Sound.

Update: This story has been updated to reflect the most recent assessment of the spill's cause. It resulted from a bar screen not functioning, instead of a gate failing to open which Bremerton officials had initially reported.

Austen Macalus is the Kitsap Sun's social services reporter. He can be reached at austen.macalus@kitsapsun.com or 360-536-6423. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers. Sign up for a digital subscription.