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Press
Release
Grading
of beach water quality released
The Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) today (May 3) 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),
seven beaches is in 'Fair' condition (Grade 2), four 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
Cafeteria Old Beach
Clear Water Bay
First Beach (S)
Cafeteria New Beach (S)
Kadoorie (S) |
Tung
Wan, Ma Wan (S)
Golden (S)
Butterfly (S) |
"Grade 3" beach
is
Casam (S)
Hoi Mei Wan |
Lido (S)
Silverstrand (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, Silverstrand has changed from 'Grade
2' to 'Grade 3'. The change is generally within the normal range
of fluctuation of the bacteriological water quality of this beach,"
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/Friday,
May 3, 2002
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