| Press
Release
Grading
of beach water quality released
The Environmental Protection
Department today (April 25) released the latest grading of water
quality at 33 beaches open to the public, rating 22 as Good (Grade
1), eight as Fair (Grade 2), two as Poor (Grade 3) and one as Very
Poor (Grade 4).
The beach with an asterisk
is a non-gazetted beach while those with (S) are equipped with shark
nets.
Grade 1 beaches
are:
| Lower
Cheung Sha Beach |
Hap
Mun Bay Beach (S) |
| Upper Cheung Sha
Beach (S) |
Kiu Tsui Beach (S) |
| Discovery Bay* |
Trio Beach (S) |
| Tong Fuk Beach (S) |
Big Wave Bay Beach
(S) |
| Hung Shing Yeh Beach
(S) |
Deep Water Bay Beach
(S) |
| Lo So Shing Beach
(S) |
Hairpin Beach (S) |
| Kwun Yam Beach (S) |
Shek O Beach (S) |
| Cheung Chau Tung
Wan Beach (S) |
St. Stephen's Beach
(S) |
| Clear Water Bay
First Beach (S) |
Stanley Main Beach
(S) |
| Clear Water Bay
Second Beach (S) |
Turtle Cove Beach
(S) |
| Middle Bay Beach
(S) |
South Bay Beach
(S) |
Grade 2 beaches
are:
| Silver
Mine Bay Beach (S) |
Cafeteria
Old Beach |
| Silverstrand Beach
(S) |
Cafeteria New Beach
(S) |
| Butterfly Beach
(S) |
Chung Hom Kok Beach
(S) |
| Repulse Bay Beach
(S) |
Pui O Beach (S)
|
Grade 3 beaches are:
| Golden Beach (S) |
Kadoorie Beach (S) |
| |
|
The Grade 4
beach is Ma Wan Tung Wan Beach (S).
A spokesman for the department
said South Bay Beach had upgraded from Grade 2 to Grade 1 last week
while Pui O Beach had changed from Grade 1 to Grade 2; Golden Beach
and Kadoorie Beach from Grade 2 to Grade 3.
"The changes are generally
within the normal range of fluctuation of the bacteriological water
quality of the beaches," he said.
"The very poor water
quality of Ma Wan Tung Wan Beach is due to the heavy rain three
weeks ago, which flushed pollutants from the unsewered beach hinterland
into the water. As the grading is based on the geometric mean of
the last five test results, the current grading is still affected
by this past result," he added.
Beach grades are published
weekly before the weekend. The information may also be obtained
from the department's homepage at http://www.epd.gov.hk or the beach
hotline at 2511 6666.
Under the grading system,
beaches are classified into four grades according to the level of
E. coli in the water.
Grades are calculated
on the basis of the geometric mean of the E. coli counts on the
five most recent sampling occasions.
Grade 4 is assigned to
beaches whose last E. coli reading exceeds a threshold figure, irrespective
of the geometric mean. Swimmers are advised to avoid these beaches
until the water quality improves.
Seven gazetted beaches
- Anglers' Beach, Approach Beach, Ting Kau Beach, Casam Beach, Gemini
Beaches, Hoi Mei Wan Beach and Lido Beach - are closed to swimmers
year round because of poor water quality.
The public is advised
not to swim at these closed beaches.
The spokesman cautioned
that many beaches were likely to be more polluted than their 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.
End/Friday, April 25,
2003
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