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Press
Release
Grading
of beach water quality released
The Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) today (April 4) released the latest
grading of 37 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)," a spokesman for the EPD said.
"The water quality of eight beaches are in 'Fair' condition
(Grade 2), one is 'Poor' (Grade 3) and four are 'Very Poor'
(Grade 4)."
"Grade 1" beaches are
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Cheung
Sha Lower Beach
Cheung Sha Upper Beach (S)
Discovery Bay*
Pui O (S)
Tong Fuk (S)
Hung Shing Yeh (S)
Lo So Shing (S)
Kwun Yam Wan (S)
Tung Wan, Cheung Chau (S)
Clear Water Bay Second Beach (S)
Hap Mun Bay (S)
Kiu Tsui (S)
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Big
Wave Bay (S)
Chung Hom Kok (S)
Deep Water Bay (S)
Hairpin (S)
Middle Bay (S)
Repulse Bay (S)
Shek O (S)
South Bay (S)
St. Stephen's Beach (S)
Stanley Main Beach (S)
Turtle Cove (S)
Trio (S) |
"Grade
2" beaches are
Silvermine
Bay (S)
Clear Water Bay First Beach (S)
Tung Wan, Ma Wan (S)
Butterfly (S) |
Cafeteria
Old Beach
Golden (S)
Cafeteria New Beach (S)
Kadoorie (S) |
"Grade
3" beach is Silverstrand (S)
"Grade 4" beaches are
Lido
(S)
Gemini |
Casam
(S)
Hoi Mei Wan |
The beach
with an asterisk is a non-gazetted beach while those with
(S) have shark prevention nets installed.
"The
very poor water quality of the beaches in Tsuen Wan is partly
due to the heavy rain which flushed the pollutants from the
unsewered beach hinterland into the water, as well as the
relatively poor marine water quality in the background,"
the spokesman said.
"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 count 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, three gazetted beaches,
namely Anglers', Approach and Ting Kau are closed to swimmers
all year round because of their poor water quality.
"The
public are advised not to swim at these 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 as far as possible until the water quality there has
improved.
End/Thursday,
April 4, 2002
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