The purpose of introducing the beach grading system is to disseminate Latest Information on beach water quality to the public during the bathing season, enabling bathers to decide whether they should swim in the beach water. The reporting of beach grades to the public started in 1987 when the grading system was first launched. It was in the form of press release and on a bi-weekly basis.

The beach water quality monitoring programme was further enhanced in 1997, such that more timely information on beach water quality could be made available and the press release on beach grading had been changed from a bi-weekly to weekly basis. At the same time, starting from August 1997, the beach grading has been released before the weekend in order to provide the weekend beach-goers with the most updated beach water quality status.

Since 1998, the EPD has implemented a series of new initiatives to disseminate timely beach water quality information to the public and thus bathers?health is better protected. These include the launch of a dedicated webpage and hotline on beach water quality, display of beach grades and beach related advisory notices at beaches, etc.

4.1 Beach Webpage and Hotline

The first webpage dedicated for beach water quality in Hong Kong was launched in October 1998 at the EPD's website (http://www.epd.gov.hk). This webpage provided the annual information on beach water quality and the beach related water quality improvement works. When the enhanced beach grading system was implemented in 1999, the beach webpage was expanded to provide more comprehensive information, including the beach grading and its trend for each of the opened gazetted beaches. The webpage is updated as soon as the latest beach grading is available during the bathing season. Other beach information such as the location of beaches and availability of beach facilities is also included in this webpage (Figure 4.1). An electronic copy of this Annual Report on Beach Water Quality in Hong Kong is also available at this website.

Figure 4.1	Webpage on beach water quality

In addition, a hotline (2511 6666) dedicated for the beach grading has been established since September 1999. This hotline will be updated at the same time when the webpage is updated to provide the latest grading during the bathing season. Those beach-goers without ready access to the Internet may check the latest beach grading through this hotline.

4.2 Advisory Notice at Beach Office

The beach grading will also be displayed on the beach notice board by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) at each of the opened gazetted beaches, and updated as soon as the latest grading is available. Bathers could check this notice board for the latest beach grading before swimming.

As heavy rainfall may flush pollutants into the beach area causing transient deterioration of beach water quality, rainfall advisory notices are also displayed at 25 selected gazetted beaches that are more susceptible to the effect of heavy rainfall (Table 4.1). The extent of the impact of heavy rainfall on water quality varies for different beaches. Based on the sanitary surveys carried out during the bathing season of 1998 and 1999, the water quality of most beaches would recover within 3 days after rain stops. Therefore, the notice advises the public to avoid swimming at beaches during and for up to 3 days after a storm or heavy rain. Similar rainfall advisory is also provided on the beach webpage and weekly press release on beach grading.

4.3 Response to Pollution Incidents

In order to protect the health of bathers, an inter-departmental Beach Pollution Response Plan (BPRP) was formulated in late 1997 to deal with sewage pollution incidents that may affect beaches. This plan outlines the procedures and response actions to be undertaken by relevant government departments and parties to deal with beach pollution incidents. An example of the beach catchment plans included in the BPRP is depicted in Figure 4.2.

Figure 4.2	Example of a beach catchment plan included in the Beach Pollution Response Plan

If a beach is likely to be affected by a sewage pollution incident, the affected beach will be temporarily closed in order to safeguard public health. A red flag will be hoisted and warning notice will be posted at the affected beach to warn the bathers not to swim in the water. The EPD will also issue press release and update the beach webpage to advise the public. The concerned beach will be reopened as soon as the sewage pollution incident has been tackled and monitoring results indicated that the beach water quality has resumed normal.

For other pollution incidents such as red tide, oil spill, etc., similar response actions will also be taken to safeguard public health according to the relevant contingency plans.