| Press
Release
Grading
of beach water quality released
The Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) today (December 27) 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 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" beach
as far as possible until the water quality has improved.
End/Friday, December 27, 2002
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