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Press
Release
Grading
of beach water quality released
The Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) today (June 21) 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), eight 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
| Cheung
Sha Lower Beach |
Clear
Water Bay First Beach (S) |
| Cheung
Sha Upper Beach (S) |
Repulse
Bay (S) |
| Discovery
Bay* |
Deep
Water Bay (S) |
| Tong
Fuk (S) |
Middle
Bay (S) |
| Hung
Shing Yeh (S) |
South
Bay (S) |
| Lo
So Shing (S) |
St.
Stephen's Beach (S) |
| Clear
Water Bay Second Beach (S) |
Stanley
Main Beach (S) |
| Hap
Mun Bay (S) |
Tung
Wan, Cheung Chau (S) |
| Kiu
Tsui (S) |
Kwun
Yam Wan (S) |
| Pui
O (S) |
Shek
O (S) |
|
Hairpin (S) |
Turtle
Cove (S) |
| Trio
(S) |
|
"Grade 2" beaches
are
| Chung Hom
Kok (S) |
Cafeteria
New Beach (S) |
| Golden
(S) |
Cafeteria
Old Beach |
| Butterfly
(S) |
Silverstrand
(S) |
| Big Wave
Bay (S) |
Silvermine
Bay (S) |
"Grade 3" beaches
are
| Kadoorie
(S) |
Tung Wan, Ma Wan (S) |
| Hoi
Mei Wan |
|
"Grade 4" beaches
are
| Casam
(S) |
Lido (S) |
| Gemini |
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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, Clear Water Bay First Beach and
Kwun Yam Wan have upgraded from 'Grade 2' to 'Grade 1', Silverstrand
from 'Grade 3' to 'Grade 2', Hoi Mei Wan and Tung Wan on Ma Wan
from 'Grade 4' to 'Grade 3'; and Chung Hom Kok has changed from
'Grade 1' to 'Grade 2'," the spokesman said.
"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 some Tsuen Wan Beaches is due to heavy rain which
flushed 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,
June 21, 2002
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