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Press
Release
Grading
of beach water quality released
The Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) today (April 12) released the
latest grading of beaches to inform the public about the water
quality of beaches in Hong Kong.
"Among
the 37 beaches, 21 beaches are found to be in 'Good' condition
(Grade 1), 11 are 'Fair' (Grade 2), two are 'Poor' (Grade
3) and three are 'Very Poor' (Grade 4)," a spokesman for the
EPD said.
"Grade
1" beaches are:
| Chung
Hom Kok (S) |
Hap
Mun Bay (S) |
| Deep
Water Bay (S) |
Kiu
Tsui (S) |
| Hairpin
(S) |
Trio
(S) |
|
Middle Bay (S) |
Cheung Sha Upper (S) |
|
Repulse Bay (S) |
Pui O (S) |
|
South Bay (S) |
Tong Fuk (S) |
|
Stanley Main (S) |
Hung Shing Yeh (S) |
|
St. Stephen's (S) |
Lo
So Shing (S) |
| Turtle
Cove (S) |
Kwun
Yam Wan (S) |
|
Clear Water Bay First (S) |
Tung Wan, Cheung Chau (S) |
|
Clear Water Bay Second (S) |
|
"Grade
2" beaches are :
| Big
Wave Bay (S) |
Casam (S) |
| Shek
O (S) |
Tung Wan (Ma Wan) (S) |
| Cafeteria
New (S) |
Butterfly
(S) |
| Cafeteria
Old |
Golden
Beach (S) |
| Silverstrand
(S) |
Kadoorie
(S) |
| Discovery
Bay* |
|
"Grade
3" beaches are :
"Grade
4" beach is
| Gemini |
Cheung
Sha Lower |
| Silvermine
Bay (S) |
|
The beach
with an asterisk is a non-gazetted beach while those with
(S) have shark prevention nets installed.
"Comparing
with the grading released last week, Chung Hom Kok has upgraded
from 'Grade 2' to 'Grade 1'; Cheung Sha Lower and Silvermine
Bay have changed from 'Grade 1' to 'Grade 4'.
"The deterioration
of water quality of the beaches is mainly due to the heavy
rain which flushed the pollutants from the unsewered beach
hinterland into the water," the spokesman said.
"During
the bathing season, beach grades will be released every week
before the weekend in order to provide timely information
for the weekend beach-goers.
"The latest
beach grading is also available from the EPD homepage at http://www.info.gov.hk/epd/
or the EPD's beach hotline at 2511 6666," he added.
Under
the grading system, beaches are classified into four grades
according to the level of E. coli in the water.
The beach
grading is calculated on the basis of the geometric mean of
the E. coli count in the five most recent sampling occasions.
"Grade
4" would also be given to a beach when its last E. coli reading
exceeds a high figure irrespective of the geometric mean.
The spokesman
said: "At present, five gazetted beaches, namely Anglers',
Approach, Ting Kau, Castle Peak and Rocky Bay, are closed
to swimmers for the whole bathing season because of their
poor water quality or lack of beach facilities."
"The public
are advised not to swim at those closed beaches."
In general,
many beaches are likely to be more polluted than the beach
grades suggested during and after periods of heavy rain. Bathers
should avoid swimming at beaches for up to three days after
a storm or heavy rainfall.
The public
are also advised to avoid swimming at the "Grade 4" beaches
as far as possible until the water quality has improved.
End/Thursday,
April 12, 2001
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