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Press
Release
Grading
of beach water quality released
The Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) today (May 24) released the latest
grading of 37 beaches to inform the public about the water
quality of beaches in Hong Kong.
"Among
the 37 beaches, 21 beaches are found to be in 'Good' condition
(Grade 1), 10 beaches are in 'Fair' condition (Grade 2), three
are 'Poor' (Grade 3) and three are '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*
Tong Fuk (S)
Hung Shing Yeh (S)
Lo So Shing (S)
Kwun Yam Wan (S)
Clear Water Bay Second Beach (S)
Hap Mun Bay (S)
Kiu Tsui (S)
Trio (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)
Tung Wan, Cheung Chau (S)
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"Grade
2" beaches are
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Clear
Water Bay First Beach (S)
Silverstrand (S)
Butterfly (S)
Big Wave Bay (S)
Turtle Cove (S)
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Cafeteria
Old Beach
Golden (S)
Cafeteria New Beach (S)
Silvermine Bay (S)
Pui O (S)
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"Grade
3" beaches are
Hoi
Mei Wan
Kadoorie (S)
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Tung
Wan, Ma Wan (S)
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"Grade
4" beaches are
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Casam
(S)
Gemini
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Lido
(S)
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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, Tung Wan on Ma Wan has
upgraded from 'Grade 4' to 'Grade 3'; Big Wave Bay, Turtle
Cove, Pui O and Silvermine Bay have changed from 'Grade 1'
to 'Grade 2'; Kadoorie from 'Grade 2' to 'Grade 3'; Casam
and Lido from 'Grade 3' to 'Grade 4'," the spokesman said.
"The
deterioration of water quality of the beaches is mainly due
to the heavy rain which flushed the pollutants from the unsewered
beach hinterland into the water," 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,
May 24, 2002
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