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Press Release
Grading of beach water quality released
The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (July 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, 24 beaches are found to be in 'Good' condition (Grade 1), nine beaches are in 'Fair' condition (Grade 2), and four are 'Poor' (Grade 3)," 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) |
Big Wave Bay (S) | | Kiu Tsui (S) |
Chung Hom Kok (S) | | Pui O (S) |
Turtle Cove (S) | | Hairpin (S) |
Tung Wan, Cheung Chau (S) | | Trio (S) |
Kwun Yam Wan (S) |
"Grade 2" beaches are
| Shek O (S) |
Cafeteria New Beach (S) | | Golden Beach (S) |
Cafeteria Old Beach | | Butterfly (S) |
Silvermine Bay (S) | | Kadoorie (S) |
Silverstrand (S) | | Tung Wan, Ma Wan (S) |
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"Grade 3" beaches are
| Casam (S) |
Gemini | | Hoi Mei Wan |
Lido (S) |
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, Kwun Yam Wan has upgraded from 'Grade 2' to 'Grade 1'; Kadoorie from 'Grade 3' to 'Grade 2'; and Casam and Lido from 'Grade 4' to 'Grade 3'.
"The changes are generally within the normal range of fluctuation of the bacteriological water quality of these beaches.
"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," the spokesman said.
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, July 26, 2002
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