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Press
Release
Grading
of beach water quality released
The Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) today (June 15) released the latest
grading of beaches to inform the public about the water quality
of beaches in Hong Kong.
"Among
the 37 beaches, 12 beaches are found to be in 'Good' condition
(Grade 1), 19 are 'Fair' (Grade 2), five are 'Poor' (Grade
3) and one 'Very Poor' (Grade 4)," a spokesman for the EPD
said.
"Grade
1" beaches are:
| South
Bay (S) |
Cheung
Sha Upper (S) |
| Stanley
Main Beach(S) |
Pui
O (S) |
| St.
Stephen's (S) |
Tong
Fuk (S) |
| Hap
Mun Bay (S) |
Kwun
Yam Wan (S) |
| Kiu
Tsui (S) |
Hung
Shing Yeh (S) |
| Trio
(S) |
Lo
So Shing (S) |
"Grade
2" beaches are:
| Chung
Hom Kok (S) |
Cheung
Sha Lower |
| Deep
Water Bay (S) |
Discovery
Bay* |
| Hairpin
(S) |
Silvermine
Bay (S) |
| Middle
Bay (S) |
Cafeteria
New (S) |
| Repulse
Bay (S) |
Cafeteria
Old |
| Shek
O (S) |
Golden
Beach (S) |
| Turtle
Cove (S) |
Clear
Water Bay First Beach(S) |
| Gemini |
Clear
Water Bay Second Beach(S) |
| Tung
Wan (Ma Wan) (S) |
Silverstrand
(S)
|
| Tung
Wan, Cheung Chau (S) |
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"Grade
3" beaches are :
| Butterfly
(S) |
Lido
(S) |
| Casam
(S) |
Hoi
Mei Wan |
| Kadoorie
(S) |
|
The "Grade
4" beach is Big Wave Bay (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, Gemini has upgraded from
'Grade 3' to 'Grade 2'; Clear Water Bay First Beach and Tung
Wan on Cheung Chau have changed from 'Grade 1' to 'Grade 2';
Hoi Mei Wan, Butterfly and Kadoorie from 'Grade 2' to 'Grade
3'; and Big Wave Bay from 'Grade 2' to 'Grade 4'.
"The deterioration
of water quality of the beaches is mainly due to the heavy
rain in the past week which flushed the pollutants from the
unsewered hinterland into the water," 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 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 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
until the water quality has improved.
End/Friday,
June 15, 2001
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