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Press
Release
Grading
of beach water quality released
The Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) today (October 11) released the latest
grading of 37 beaches to inform the public about the water quality
of beaches in Hong Kong.
"Among the 37
beaches, 20 beaches are found to be in 'Good' condition (Grade 1),"
a spokesman for the EPD said.
"Of the other
17 beaches, 12 beaches are graded 'Fair' (Grade 2), one 'Poor' (Grade
3) and four 'Very Poor' (Grade 4).
"Grade 1" beaches
are
| Cheung
Sha Upper Beach (S) |
Hairpin
(S) |
| Pui
O (S) |
South
Bay (S) |
| Tong
Fuk (S) |
St.
Stephen's Beach (S) |
| Hung
Shing Yeh (S) |
Stanley
Main Beach (S) |
| Lo
So Shing (S) |
Turtle
Cove (S) |
| Shek
O (S) |
Deep
Water Bay (S) |
| Chung
Hom Kok (S) |
Kiu
Tsui (S) |
| Hap
Mun Bay (S) |
Trio
(S) |
| Middle
Bay (S) |
Repulse
Bay (S) |
| Kwun
Yam Wan (S) |
Cheung
Sha Lower Beach |
| |
|
| |
|
"Grade 2" beaches
are
| Butterfly
(S) |
Silvermine
Bay (S) |
| Cafeteria
Old Beach |
Big
Wave Bay (S) |
| Cafeteria
New Beach (S) |
Clear
Water Bay Second Beach (S) |
| Golden
Beach (S) |
Clear
Water Bay First Beach (S) |
| Discovery
Bay* |
Tung
Wan, Cheung Chau (S) |
| Silverstrand
(S) |
Kadoorie
(S) |
"Grade 3" beach
is Tung Wan, Ma Wan (S).
"Grade 4" 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, Chung Hom Kok and Cheung Sha Lower
Beach have upgraded from 'Grade 2' to 'Grade 1'; Tung Wan on Cheung
Chau and Discovery Bay have changed from 'Grade 1' to 'Grade 2';
and Casam from 'Grade 3' to 'Grade 4'.
"The changes
are generally within the normal range of fluctuation of the bacteriological
water quality of these beaches.
"The very poor
water quality of some beaches in Tsuen Wan is partly due to the
residual influence of the heavy rain in the past few weeks which
flushed the pollutants from the unsewered beach hinterland into
the water as well as the relatively poor marine water quality in
the background.
"Beach grades
are released every week before the weekend in order to provide timely
information for weekend beach-goers.
"The latest
beach grading is also available from the EPD homepage at http://www.epd.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 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,
October 11, 2002
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