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Press
Release
Grading
of beach water quality released
The Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) today (April 26) released the
latest grading of 37 beaches to inform the public about the
water quality of beaches in Hong Kong.
"Among
the 37 beaches, 25 beaches are found to be in 'Good' condition
(Grade 1), eight beaches are in 'Fair' condition (Grade 2),
three are 'Poor' (Grade 3) and one is 'Very Poor' (Grade 4),"
a spokesman for the EPD said.
"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)
Silvermine Bay (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)
Big Wave Bay (S)
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Chung
Hom Kok (S)
Repulse Bay (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)
Turtle Cove (S)
Kiu Tsui (S)
Trio (S)
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"Grade
2" beaches are
Tung Wan, Ma Wan (S)
Silverstrand (S)
Clear Water Bay First Beach (S)
Butterfly (S) |
Cafeteria
Old Beach
Golden (S)
Cafeteria New Beach (S)
Kadoorie (S) |
"Grade
3" beach is
Casam
(S)
Hoi Mei Wan |
Lido
(S) |
The "Grade
4" beach is Gemini.
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, Big Wave Bay has upgraded
from 'Grade 2' to 'Grade 1', Tung Wan on Ma Wan from 'Grade
3' to 'Grade 2', and Lido, Casam and Hoi Mei Wan from 'Grade
4' to 'Grade 3'.
"The changes
are generally within the normal range of fluctuation of the
bacteriological water quality of these beaches," 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 26, 2002
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