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Press
Releases - 2000
Grading
of beach water quality released
The Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) today (August 18) released the
latest grading of beaches to inform the public about the water
quality of beaches in Hong Kong.
"Among
the 37 beaches, 19 beaches are found to be in 'Good' condition
(Grade 1)," a spokesman for the EPD said.
"The
water quality of 15 beaches are in 'Fair' condition (Grade
2) and three are 'Poor' (Grade 3)."
"Grade
1" beaches are:
Chung
Hom Kok (S)
Middle Bay (S)
Repulse Bay (S)
South Bay (S)
Turtle Cove (S)
Hairpin (S)
St. Stephen's (S)
Stanley Main (S)
Trio (S)
Discovery Bay* |
Cheung Sha Upper (S)
Tong Fuk (S)
Hung Shing Yeh (S)
Lo So Shing (S)
Kwun Yam Wan (S)
Hap Mun Bay (S)
Kiu Tsui (S)
Silverstrand (S)
Tung Wan, Cheung Chau (S) |
"Grade
2" beaches are:
Big
Wave Bay (S)
Deep Water Bay (S)
Shek O (S)
Clear Water Bay First (S)
Clear Water Bay Second (S)
Tung Wan on Ma Wan (S)
Pui O (S)
Silvermine Bay (S) |
Butterfly
(S)
Cafeteria New (S)
Cafeteria Old
Golden Beach (S)
Kadoorie (S)
Cheung Sha Lower
Gemini |
"Grade
3" beaches are:
Casam
(S)
Hoi Mei Wan |
Lido (S) |
The beach
with an asterisk is a non-gazetted beach while those with
(S) have shark prevention nets installed.
"Comparing
with the grading released last week, Tung Wan on Cheung Chau
and Discovery Bay have moved up from 'Grade 2' to 'Grade 1';
and Silvermine Bay and Gemini have moved up from 'Grade 3'
to 'Grade 2'.
"The
changes are generally within the normal range of fluctuation
of the bacteriological water quality of these beaches," the
spokesman said.
"During
the bathing season, beach grades will be released every week
before the weekend in order to provide timely information
for the weekend beach-goers.
"The
latest beach grading is also available from the EPD homepage
at http://www.info.gov.hk/epd/ or the EPD's beach hotline
at 2511 6666," he added.
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 count in the five most recent sampling occasions.
As introduced
from the last bathing season, "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, five gazetted beaches, namely Anglers'
Approach, Ting Kau, Castle Peak and Rocky Bay, are closed
to swimmers for the whole bathing season because of their
poor water quality or lack of beach facilities."
"The
public are advised not to swim at those closed beaches."
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" beaches
as far as possible until the water quality has improved.
End/Friday,
August 18, 2000
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