Water

Beach Grading System

Compliance with WQOs at Hong Kong’s gazetted beaches is much better today.

Compliance with WQOs at Hong Kong’s gazetted beaches is much better today.

Hong Kong applies four grades to beach water quality, based on E. coli levels. Beaches at Grade 1 are “Good” and have a geometric mean E. coli level of 24 counts per 100 mL or below. Grade 2 beaches are “Fair” and have between 25 and 180 counts per 100 mL. Grade 3 beaches are “Poor” and have between 181 and 610 counts per 100 mL. Grade 4 means beach water quality is “Very Poor” and has a geometric mean E. coli level exceeding 610 counts per 100 mL, or the last E. coli reading exceeded a threshold figure irrespective of the geometric mean. This corresponds to a swimming-associated illness rate of more than 15 cases per 1 000 swimmers and means the water is generally considered not suitable for swimming.

Improvement works over the years have resulted in a steady rise in Hong Kong’s beach water quality. All 41 gazetted beaches now meet the water quality objectives and in 2011 76 per cent (31 in total) achieved an annual “Good” ranking.

Connecting Villages Elsewhere

Hong Kong has hundreds of villages and for many years they disposed of their sewage by dumping it in rivers and streams. The dirty water flowed into the sea, polluting waters there including at beaches. This problem has led to on-going work to connect villages and village houses to proper sewers and sewage treatment works and stop them from polluting the water.

The village sewerage programme began in the 1990s. It is an intensive and meticulous process, requiring physical inspection, the management of constraints such as lack of space, construction work and the support of villagers. Public sewers are laid and owners of village houses are then required to connect their premises to the sewers. By the end of 2011, 6 300 village houses in about 140 villages had been connected to the public sewer system, improving not only water quality in their vicinity but also sanitation for local residents.

Sewer connection construction work outside village houses. Sewer connection construction work outside village houses.