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Press
Release
Grading
of beach water quality released
The Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) today (May 25) released the latest
grading of beaches to inform the public about the water quality
of beaches in Hong Kong.
"Among
the 37 beaches, 18 beaches are found to be in 'Good' condition
(Grade 1), 14 are 'Fair' (Grade 2), three are 'Poor' (Grade
3) and two are 'Very Poor' (Grade 4)," a spokesman for the
EPD said.
"Grade
1" beaches are:
| Deep
Water Bay (S) |
Clear
Water Bay First Beach(S) |
| Middle
Bay (S) |
Hap
Mun Bay (S) |
| Shek
O (S) |
Kiu
Tsui (S) |
| South
Bay (S) |
Trio
(S) |
| Stanley
Main Beach(S) |
Cheung
Sha Upper (S) |
| St.
Stephen's (S) |
Tong
Fuk (S) |
| Turtle
Cove (S) |
Pui
O (S) |
| Kwun
Yam Wan (S) |
Hung
Shing Yeh (S) |
| Cheung
Sha Lower |
Lo
So Shing (S) |
"Grade
2" beaches are:
| Big
Wave Bay (S) |
Silvermine
Bay (S) |
| Chung
Hom Kok (S) |
Tung
Wan, Cheung Chau (S) |
| Hairpin
(S) |
Hoi
Mei Wan |
| Repulse
Bay (S) |
Tung
Wan (Ma Wan) (S) |
| Butterfly
(S) |
Discovery
Bay* |
| Cafeteria
New (S) |
Golden
Beach (S) |
| Cafeteria
Old |
Kadoorie
(S) |
"Grade
3" beaches are:
| Casam
(S) |
Lido
(S) |
| Gemini
|
|
"Grade
4" beaches are :
| Clear
Water Bay Second Beach (S) |
Silverstrand
(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, Shek O and Cheung Sha
Lower have upgraded from 'Grade 2' to 'Grade 1'; and Hoi Mei
Wan from 'Grade 3' to 'Grade 2'.
"Hairpin
and Chung Hom Kok have changed from 'Grade 1' to 'Grade 2';
Clear Water Bay Second Beach from 'Grade 2' to 'Grade 4';
and Silverstrand from 'Grade 3' 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 counts on 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
until the water quality has improved.
End/Friday,
May 25, 2001
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