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Press
Release
Grading
of beach water quality released
The Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) today (August 16) released the latest
grading of 37 beaches to inform the public about the water quality
of beaches in Hong Kong.
"Among the 37
beaches, the water quality of 19 beaches is found to be in 'Good'
condition (Grade 1)," a spokesman for the EPD said.
"Of the other
18 beaches, eight are ranked 'Fair' (Grade 2), five 'Poor' (Grade
3) and five 'Very Poor' (Grade 4).
"Grade 1" beaches
are
| Chung
Hom Kok (S) |
Deep
Water Bay (S) |
| Cheung
Sha Lower Beach |
Hairpin
(S) |
| Cheung
Sha Upper Beach (S) |
Shek
O (S) |
| Pui
O (S) |
South
Bay (S) |
| Tong
Fuk (S) |
St.
Stephen's Beach (S) |
| Hung
Shing Yeh (S) |
Stanley
Main Beach (S) |
| Lo
So Shing (S) |
Turtle
Cove (S) |
| Clear
Water Bay First Beach (S) |
Kiu
Tsui (S) |
| Hap
Mun Bay (S) |
Trio
(S) |
| Tung
Wan, Cheung Chau (S) |
|
| |
|
"Grade 2" beaches
are
| Big
Wave Bay (S) |
Middle
Bay (S) |
| Golden
Beach (S) |
Butterfly
(S) |
| Discovery
Bay* |
Clear
Water Bay Second Beach (S) |
| Kwun
Yam Wan (S) |
Repulse
Bay (S) |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
"Grade 3" beaches
are
| Cafeteria
New Beach (S) |
Cafeteria Old Beach |
| Silvermine
Bay (S) |
Tung
Wan, Ma Wan (S) |
| Kadoorie
(S) |
|
|
|
The "Grade
4" beach are
| Casam (S)
|
Lido (S) |
| Gemini
|
Hoi Mei
Wan |
| Silverstrand
(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, Shek O, Chung Hom Kok and Deep Water
Bay have moved up from 'Grade 2' to 'Grade 1'. Repulse Bay, Clear
Water Bay Second Beach and Kwun Yam Wan have changed from 'Grade
1' to 'Grade 2'.
"Tung Wan on
Ma Wan, Cafeteria New Beach, Cafeteria Old Beach, Kadoorie and Silvermine
Bay have changed from 'Grade 2' to 'Grade 3'; Silverstrand from
'Grade 2' to 'Grade 4'; and Gemini and Hoi Mei Wen from 'Grade 3'
to 'Grade 4'," the spokesman said.
"The changes
are generally within the normal range of fluctuation of the bacteriological
water quality of these beaches except for Silverstrand. The EPD
is looking into the reason for the deterioration at Silverstrand.
"The very poor
water quality of the beaches in Tsuen Wan is due to heavy rain in
the past few weeks which flushed pollutants from the unsewered beach
hinterland into the water.
"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," the spokesman said.
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 the "Grade 4" beaches as far as
possible until the water quality there has improved.
End/Friday,
August 16, 2002
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