Press Releases

Press Releases - 2000

Grading of beach water quality released

The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (September 29) released the latest grading of beaches to inform the public about the water quality of beaches in Hong Kong.

"Among the 37 beaches, 24 beaches are found to be in 'Good' condition (Grade 1) and 13 are 'Fair' (Grade 2)," a spokesman for the EPD said.

"Grade 1" beaches are:

Chung Hom Kok (S)
Deep Water Bay (S)
Hairpin (S) Pui O (S)
Middle Bay (S)
Repulse Bay (S)
Shek O (S)
South Bay (S)
St. Stephen's (S)
Stanley Main (S)
Turtle Cove (S)
Tung Wan on Ma Wan (S)
Kiu Tsui (S)
Cheung Sha Upper (S)
Cheung Sha Lower
Pui O (S)
Tong Fuk (S)
Hung Shing Yeh (S)
Lo So Shing (S)
Kwun Yam Wan (S)
Tung Wan, Cheung Chau (S)
Discovery Bay*
Clear Water Bay First (S)
Hap Mun Bay (S)
Trio (S)

"Grade 2" beaches are:

Big Wave Bay (S)
Clear Water Bay Second (S)
Silverstrand (S)
Silvermine Bay (S)
Casam (S)
Hoi Mei Wan
Lido (S)
Butterfly (S)
Cafeteria New (S)
Cafeteria Old
Golden Beach (S)
Kadoorie (S)
Gemini

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, Casam and Gemini have moved up from 'Grade 3' to 'Grade 2'; and Clear Water Bay Second has changed from 'Grade 1' 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, September 29, 2000

 

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