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Introduction |
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This
chapter looks at the beach water quality at beaches in different areas
of Hong Kong, and discusses the annual ranking and grading of beaches
in 2003. While the annual ranking of beaches tends not to change a great
deal from year to year, the grading data can show detailed fluctuations
in water quality at individual beaches across the bathing season, and
make clear the percentage of occasions that a beach registered a grading
of 1 (good water quality), 2 (fair water quality), 3 (poor water quality),
or 4 (very poor water quality). For each District in Hong Kong, then,
this report gives both an annual ranking chart and a chart showing a detailed
breakdown of each beach's grading across the season.
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Hong Kong South: the beaches of Southern District |
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The twelve beaches in Southern District, stretching
along the southern coast of Hong Kong island, continued to be some of Hong
Kong's most popular. The wide and beautiful Repulse Bay is in fact Hong
Kong's most visited beach, receiving over a million visitors in 2003. By
contrast, the relatively difficult to reach Turtle Cove enjoyed the fewest
visitors, at around 34,000: it also enjoyed the most consistently good water
quality throughout the year. |
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All but two of the Southern District beaches were
ranked Good for 2003, and continued to provide swimmers with safe, clean
water quality. Big Wave Bay, which last year hovered on the line between
Good and Fair, this year deteriorated slightly in water quality and its
annual ranking was downgraded from Good to Fair. It still suffers from
an unsewered hinterland, with residents using septic tanks and soakaway
pit systems which are susceptible to overflow after heavy rainfall. Rocky
Bay, which is closed, also ranked Fair.
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Hong Kong East: the beaches of Sai Kung District |
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Sai Kung has some of the loveliest and
most unspoiled scenery and water areas in Hong Kong, and its relatively
low population means pressure from human pollution is at its lowest here.
Not surprisingly then, water quality at the six gazetted beaches was generally
of high quality, with all the beaches comfortably meeting WQO standards.
Hap Mun Bay, for example, had one of the highest rankings of all Hong Kong
beaches, with its water quality consistently Good throughout almost the
entire year. Clear Water Bay First Beach, which last year was ranked Fair,
improved in 2003 to Good to match the status of its sister beach, Clear
Water Bay Second. |
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Of the six beaches in the Sai Kung District, only
Silverstrand ranked below Good (it received a Fair ranking). Having said
that, it should be noted that the number of days that Silverstrand was
graded 3 or 4 (representing poor or very poor water quality) decreased
from 2002 to 2003, and with the completion of extensive sewerage and drainage
works in the hinterland during the year, water quality is expected to
improve further.
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Hong Kong West: the beaches of Tuen Mun and Tsuen Wan
Districts |
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The western end of Hong Kong includes 14 gazetted
beaches, six in Tuen Mun District and eight in Tsuen Wan District. Sea water
in this area is under pressure from extensive marine activity, large sections
of unsewered hinterland in some parts, and dense urban populations in the
towns of Tuen Mun and Tsuen Wan. Despite this, all the beaches in the Tuen
Mun District met WQO standards, each ranking Fair as they did last year.
Two of the beaches, Cafeteria Old and Cafeteria New, in fact improved slightly,
registering fewer days when they received a Grade 3 (representing poor water
quality) than in 2002. Kadoorie however was more unstable, due to the effects
of pollutants washed down the Tuen Mun River and from the nearby typhoon
shelter. |
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Problems in Tsuen Wan District are more severe, and
only one of the eight beaches could meet WQO standards across 2003. This
was Tung Wan, on Ma Wan island, which is a little way away from the other
seven beaches and therefore less susceptible to problems caused by the unsewered
Tsuen Wan District hinterland. Tung Wan achieved a ranking of Fair, which
was in fact an improvement over last year's Poor ranking. |
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Apart from Hoi Mei Wan, which achieved a Poor ranking,
all the other beaches on the Tsuen Wan side of the Rambler Channel fell
into the Very Poor category, consistent with last year's rankings. Until
ongoing sewerage works and other improvements are completed, it seems unlikely
that this situation will improve significantly. Further, the completion
of Stage 1 of the HATS sewage treatment scheme has also led to increasing
levels of bacteria in the marine water off the Tsuen Wan coast. This is
because the huge amount of treated effluent handled by the HATS scheme is
discharged through an Interim Submarine Outfall on the south side of Tsing
Yi, no great distance from the Tsuen Wan District beaches. On the positive
side, the HATS sewage scheme has brought significant improvement to water
quality at beaches on the eastern side of Hong Kong, such as Big Wave Bay. |
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Three beaches had already been closed on the recommendation
of the EPD before 2003 (Anglers', Ting Kau, and Approach): this year, the
EPD recommended that the other four (Gemini, Hoi Mei Wan, Casam and Lido)
should also be closed to protect the public from waterborne illnesses. For
the time being, therefore, these beautiful small beaches must remain simply
as picturesque locations set into the craggy step hillsides of Tsuen Wan
District, good for a stroll but not a swim. The EPD will of course continue
to monitor the water quality over coming months and years, with a view to
reopening these beaches once significant improvements show themselves.
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The Beaches of Hong Kong's Outlying Islands |
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Gazetted beaches are situated on the islands of Lamma, Cheung Chau, and
Lantau (south side). They vary greatly in popularity: Tung Wan on Cheung
Chau, for example, recorded some 110,000 visitors across the season, while
Lo So Shing, on Lamma, saw under 15,000 in the same period.
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All except Silver Mine Bay on Lantau maintained their annual ranking of
Good. Although Silver Mine Bay registered a Fair ranking as it did last
year, it should be noted that during 2003 the beach attracted no Grade 3
or Grade 4 (representing poor or very poor water quality), showing a welcome
trend of improvement over 2002. Silver Mine Bay has suffered in the past
from agricultural runoff and a relatively populated hinterland, but developments
over recent years have seen beach water quality improve, and it is hoped
that eventually it will enjoy the standards of quality typical of most of
the other gazetted beaches on Lantau. |
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Non-gazetted beaches |
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The EPD also monitors nine non-gazetted beaches which
are particularly popular amongst swimmers or which have been identified
as having the potential to be gazetted in the future. Three of these are
in the Tai Po District, two of them (Sha Lan and Lung Mei) on the shores
of Tolo Harbour and the other (Hoi Ha) more remote. Another two are in the
Sai Kung District, two in Tuen Mun District, and two on Outlying Islands.
As might be expected, the Tuen Mun beaches suffer from the same problems
as the gazetted beaches in the same area. However, of the nine non-gazetted
beaches, only one (Lung Kwu Tan) failed to meet WQO standards in 2003, and
four of them, including the very popular Discovery Bay beach, enjoyed consistently
good water quality across the year. |
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