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Press
Release
Grading
of beach water quality released
The Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) today (August 3) released the
latest grading of beaches to inform the public about the water
quality of beaches in Hong Kong.
"Among
the 37 beaches, 10 beaches are found to be in 'Good' condition
(Grade 1), 18 are 'Fair' (Grade 2), seven are 'Poor' (Grade
3) and two are 'Very Poor' (Grade 4)," a spokesman for the
EPD said.
"Grade
1" beaches are:
| Hairpin
(S) |
Hap
Mun Bay (S) |
| Middle
Bay (S) |
Kiu
Tsui (S) |
| South
Bay (S) |
Lo
So Shing (S) |
| Stanley
Main Beach (S) |
Kwun
Yam Wan (S) |
| St.
Stephen's Beach (S) |
Tung
Wan, Cheung Chau (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) |
| Repulse
Bay (S) |
Tong
Fuk (S) |
| Shek
O (S) |
Silvermine
Bay (S)
|
| Turtle
Cove (S) |
Hung
Shing Yeh (S)
|
| Discovery
Bay* |
Clear
Water Bay First Beach (S) |
| Tung
Wan (Ma Wan) (S) |
Clear
Water Bay Second Beach (S) |
| Trio
(S) |
Butterfly
(S) |
"Grade
3" beaches are:
| Casam
(S) |
Silverstrand
(S) |
| Gemini |
Golden
Beach (S) |
| Hoi
Mei Wan |
Kadoorie
(S) |
| Lido
(S) |
|
"Grade
4" beaches are:
| Cafeteria
New (S) |
Cafeteria
Old |
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, Hairpin, Tung Wan on
Cheung Chau and Stanley Main Beach have upgraded from 'Grade
2' to 'Grade 1'; Butterfly, Tung Wan (Ma Wan) and Silvermine
Bay from 'Grade 3' to 'Grade 2'; and Casam from 'Grade 4'
to 'Grade 3'.
"Cheung
Sha Upper and Tong Fuk have changed from 'Grade 1' to 'Grade
2'; Cafeteria New and Cafeteria Old from 'Grade 3' to 'Grade
4'.
"The changes
are generally within the normal range of fluctuation of the
bacteriological water quality of these beaches," 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,
August 3, 2001
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