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Press
Release
Grading
of beach water quality released
The Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) today (October 19) released the
latest grading of beaches to inform the public about the water
quality of beaches in Hong Kong.
"Among
the 37 beaches, 24 beaches are found to be in 'Good' condition
(Grade 1) and 13 are 'Fair' (Grade 2)," a spokesman for the
EPD said.
"Grade
1" beaches are:
| Chung
Hom Kok (S) |
Clear
Water Bay Second Beach (S) |
| Deep
Water Bay (S) |
Hap
Mun Bay (S) |
Hairpin
(S)
|
Kiu
Tsui (S) |
| Middle
Bay (S) |
Trio
(S) |
| Repulse
Bay (S) |
Cheung
Sha Lower |
| Shek
O (S) |
Cheung
Sha Upper (S) |
| South
Bay (S) |
Pui
O (S) |
St.
Stephen's Beach (S)
|
Tong
Fuk (S) |
| Stanley
Main Beach (S) |
Hung
Shing Yeh (S) |
| Turtle
Cove (S) |
Lo
So Shing (S) |
| Tung
Wan, Cheung Chau (S) |
Kwun
Yam Wan (S) |
| Discovery
Bay* |
Clear
Water Bay First Beach (S) |
"Grade
2" beaches are:
|
Big
Wave Bay (S)
|
Silvermine
Bay (S)
|
| Silverstrand
(S) |
Hoi
Mei Wan |
Golden
Beach (S)
|
Casam
(S) |
| Kadoorie
(S) |
Cafeteria
New (S) |
| Tung
Wan (Ma Wan) (S) |
Cafeteria
Old |
| Butterfly
(S) |
Gemini |
| |
Lido
(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, Clear Water Bay First
Beach and Discovery Bay have upgraded from 'Grade 2' to 'Grade
1'; Lido and Gemini from 'Grade 3' to 'Grade 2'. Silvermine
Bay and Butterfly have changed from 'Grade 1' to 'Grade 2'.
"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,
October 19, 2001
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