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Press
Release
Grading
of beach water quality released
The Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) today (July 13) released the latest
grading of beaches to inform the public about the water quality
of beaches in Hong Kong.
"Among
the 37 beaches, five beaches are found to be in 'Good' condition
(Grade 1), 19 are 'Fair' (Grade 2), 12 are 'Poor' (Grade 3)
and one is 'Very Poor' (Grade 4)," a spokesman for the EPD
said.
"Grade
1" beaches are:
|
South
Bay (S)
|
Tong
Fuk (S)
|
| Hap
Mun Bay (S) |
Discovery
Bay* |
| Kiu
Tsui (S) |
|
"Grade
2" beaches are:
|
Big
Wave Bay (S)
|
Cheung
Sha Lower
|
Chung
Hom Kok (S)
|
Cheung
Sha Upper (S) |
| Deep
Water Bay (S) |
Pui
O (S) |
| Hairpin
(S) |
Lo
So Shing (S) |
| Middle
Bay (S) |
Hung
Shing Yeh (S) |
| Repulse
Bay (S) |
Kwun
Yam Wan (S) |
Shek
O (S)
|
Tung
Wan, Cheung Chau (S) |
| Stanley
Main Beach (S) |
Clear
Water Bay |
| St.
Stephen's Beach (S) |
Second
Beach (S) |
| Turtle
Cove (S) |
Trio
(S) |
"Grade
3" beaches are:
|
Clear
Water Bay First Beach (S)
|
Butterfly
(S)
|
| Silverstrand
(S) |
Cafeteria
New (S) |
| Gemini |
Cafeteria
Old |
| Hoi
Mei Wan |
Golden
Beach (S) |
| Lido
(S) |
Kadoorie
(S) |
| Tung
Wan (Ma Wan) (S) |
Silvermine
Bay (S) |
The "Grade
4" beach is Casam (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, Big Wave Bay has upgraded
from 'Grade 3' to 'Grade 2'; Stanley Main Beach, Cheung Sha
Upper and Kwun Yam Wan have changed from 'Grade 1' to 'Grade
2'; Tung Wan (Ma Wan), Butterfly, Cafeteria New, Cafeteria
Old, Golden and Silverstrand from 'Grade 2' to 'Grade 3';
and Casam from 'Grade 3' to 'Grade 4'.
"The deterioration
of water quality of the beaches is mainly due to the heavy
rain in the past few weeks, which flushed the pollutants from
the unsewered beach hinterland and polluted run-off 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,
July 13, 2001
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