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Press
Release
Grading
of beach water quality released
The Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) today (April 12) released the
latest grading of 37 beaches to inform the public about the
water quality of beaches in Hong Kong.
"Among
the 37 beaches, 23 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),
two are '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)
Turtle Cove (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)
Shek O (S)
South Bay (S)
St. Stephen's Beach (S)
Stanley Main Beach (S)
Clear Water Bay Second Beach (S)
(S) Trio |
"Grade
2" beaches are
Repulse
Bay (S)
Silvermine Bay (S)
Cafeteria New Beach(S)
Butterfly (S) |
Cafeteria
Old Beach
Golden (S)
Clear Water Bay First Beach (S)
Kadoorie (S) |
"Grade
3" beaches are
| Silverstrand
(S) |
Tung
Wan, Ma Wan (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.
"Comparing
with the grading released last week, Repulse Bay has changed
from 'Grade 1' to 'Grade 2' and Tung Wan at Ma Wan has changed
from 'Grade 2' to 'Grade 3'. The changes are generally within
the normal range of fluctuation of the bacteriological water
quality of these beaches," the spokesman said.
"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 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, 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/Friday,
April 12, 2002
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