| Press
Release
Grading
of beach water quality released
The Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) today (March 21) released the latest
grading of 14 beaches;.
Among them, Deep Water Bay, Clear Water Bay Second Beach, Silverstrand
and Golden Beach are open all year round while others in Southern
District have been opened to the public since March 1.
"Twelve beaches are found to be in 'Good' condition (Grade 1) and
two are 'Fair' (Grade 2)," a spokesman for the EPD said.
'Grade 1' beaches are:
| Deep
Water Bay |
Hairpin |
| Middle
Bay |
Shek O |
| Repulse
Bay |
Stanley
Main Beach |
| South Bay
|
Turtle
Cove |
| St. Stephen's
Beach |
Big Wave
Bay |
| Chung Hom
Kok |
Clear Water
Bay Second Beach |
'Grade 2' beaches
are:
| Golden
Beach |
Silverstrand |
| |
|
All these beaches
are installed with shark prevention nets.
"Comparing with the grading released last week, Chung Hom Kok 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 threshold 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.
"Casam, Gemini, Hoi Mei Wan and Lido will not be open to the public
for the same reason when the bathing season of other beaches in
the New Territories commences on April 1."
Other ancillary services such as the sand areas, toilet, changing
facilities and barbecue pits of the four beaches will still be provided.
"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 "Grade 4" beaches
as far as possible until the water quality has improved.
End/Friday,
March 21, 2003
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