| Press
Release
Grading
of beach water quality released
The Environmental Protection
Department (EPD) today (February 7) 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, Clear Water Bay Second Beach and Silverstrand are
found to be in 'Good' condition (Grade 1), and Golden Beach is '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, Silverstrand has upgraded from 'Grade
2' to 'Grade 1'.
"The change is within
the normal range of fluctuation of the bacteriological water quality
of the beach.
"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/Thursday, February
7, 2003
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