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Press
Release
Grading
of beach water quality released
The
Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today
(December 6) released the latest grading of four
beaches which are opened all year round. They
are Deep Water Bay, Clear Water Bay Second Beach,
Silverstrand and Golden Beach. Other beaches have
been closed to swimmers since the end of the bathing
season.
"Among the four beaches, Deep Water Bay and Clear
Water Bay Second Beach are found to be in 'Good'
condition (Grade 1); and Golden Beach and Silverstrand
are 'Fair' (Grade 2)," a spokesman for the EPD
said.
All these beaches are installed with shark prevention
nets.
"Comparing with the grading released last week,
there is no change in the beach grades of all
the four beaches.
"Beach grades are 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.epd.gov.hk 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," he added.
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 has improved.
End/Friday, December 6, 2002
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