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Press
Release
Grading
of beach water quality released
The Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) today (March 22) released the
latest grading of 11 beaches on Hong Kong Island and two beaches
in the New Territories, which are open to the public.
Since
the bathing season for other beaches in the New Territories
will commence on April 1, they are still closed to swimmers.
"All
the 13 beaches are found to be in 'Good' condition (Grade
1)," a spokesman for the EPD said.
They
are:
Chung
Hom Kok
Deep Water Bay
Middle Bay
Repulse Bay
South Bay
St. Stephen's Beach
Big Wave Bay |
Hairpin
Shek O
Stanley Main Beach
Turtle Cove
Golden Beach
Clear Water Bay Second Beach |
All these
beaches are installed with shark prevention nets.
"Comparing
with the grading released last week, there is no change in
the grading for all the 13 beaches," the spokesman said.
"Beach
grades are released every week before the weekend in order
to provide timely information for 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, three gazetted beaches, namely Anglers',
Approach and Ting Kau are closed to swimmers all year round
because of their poor water quality. The public are advised
not to swim at these 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 "Grade 4"
beaches as far as possible until the water quality there has
improved.
End/Friday,
March 22, 2002
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