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Press
Release
Grading
of beach water quality released
The Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) today (September 21) released
the latest grading of beaches to inform the public about the
water quality of beaches in Hong Kong.
"Among
the 37 beaches, 16 beaches are found to be in 'Good' condition
(Grade 1), 15 are 'Fair' (Grade 2), five are 'Poor' (Grade
3) and one is 'Very Poor' (Grade 4)," a spokesman for the
EPD said.
"Grade
1" beaches are:
|
Chung Hom Kok (S) |
Clear Water Bay Second Beach (S) |
| Hairpin
(S) |
Hap
Mun Bay (S) |
| Repulse
Bay (S) |
Kiu
Tsui (S) |
| South
Bay (S) |
Trio
(S) |
| St.
Stephen's Beach (S) |
Cheung
Sha Upper (S) |
Discovery
Bay*
|
Tong
Fuk (S) |
| Hung
Shing Yeh (S) |
Lo
So Shing (S) |
| Cheung
Sha Lower |
Tung
Wan, Cheung Chau (S) |
"Grade
2" beaches are:
|
Big Wave Bay (S) |
Clear Water Bay First Beach (S) |
| Deep
Water Bay (S) |
Silverstrand
(S) |
| Middle
Bay (S) |
Kwun
Yam Wan (S) |
| Shek
O (S) |
Pui
O (S) |
| Stanley
Main Beach (S) |
Butterfly
(S) |
| Turtle
Cove (S) |
Cafeteria
New (S) |
| Hoi
Mei Wan |
Cafeteria
Old |
| Golden
Beach (S) |
|
"Grade
3" beaches are:
| Casam
(S) |
Gemini |
| Silvermine
Bay (S) |
Lido
(S) |
| Kadoorie
(S) |
|
The "Grade
4" beach is Tung Wan (Ma Wan) (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, Cheung Sha Lower, Tung
Wan on Cheung Chau and Discovery Bay have upgraded from 'Grade
2' to 'Grade 1'; Turtle Cove has changed from 'Grade 1' to
'Grade 2'; Kadoorie from 'Grade 2' to 'Grade 3' and Tung Wan
on Ma Wan from 'Grade 2' to 'Grade 4'.
"The
changes are generally within the normal range of fluctuation
of the bacteriological water quality of these beaches except
Tung Wan on Ma Wan. The EPD is carrying out an investigation
to look into the reasons for deterioration of the water quality,"
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,
September 21, 2001
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