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Press Release

Grading of beach water quality released

The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (August 17) released the latest grading of beaches to inform the public about the water quality of beaches in Hong Kong.

"Among the 37 beaches, 18 beaches are found to be in 'Good' condition (Grade 1), 14 are 'Fair' (Grade 2), and five are 'Poor' (Grade 3)," a spokesman for the EPD said.

"Grade 1" beaches are:

Chung Hom Kok (S) Hap Mun Bay (S)
Hairpin (S) Kiu Tsui (S)
Middle Bay (S) Hung Shing Yeh (S)
Repulse Bay (S) Lo So Shing (S)
South Bay (S) Kwun Yam Wan (S)
Stanley Main Beach (S) Tung Wan, Cheung Chau (S)
St. Stephen's Beach (S) Cheung Sha Upper (S)
Turtle Cove (S) Cheung Sha Lower
Discovery Bay* Pui O (S)

"Grade 2" beaches are:

Big Wave Bay (S) Cafeteria New (S)
Deep Water Bay (S) Kadoorie (S)
Shek O (S) Tong Fuk (S)
Silvermine Bay (S) Clear Water Bay First Beach (S)
Casam (S) Clear Water Bay Second Beach (S)
Trio (S) Tung Wan (Ma Wan) (S)
Butterfly (S) Golden Beach (S)

"Grade 3" beaches are:

Gemini Cafeteria Old
Hoi Mei Wan Silverstrand (S)
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, Turtle Cove, Chung Hom Kok, Cheung Sha Lower, Pui O, Hung Shing Yeh and Discovery Bay have upgraded from 'Grade 2' to 'Grade 1'; Big Wave Bay, Casam, Cafeteria New and Kadoorie 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 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, August 17, 2001

 

 

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