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Grading of beach water quality released
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     The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (July 27) released the latest grading of water quality for 37 beaches.

     Twenty-one beaches were rated as Good (Grade 1), 14 were rated as Fair (Grade 2) and two were rated as Very Poor (Grade 4).

Grade 1 beaches are:
 
Cheung Chau Tung Wan Beach     Lower Cheung Sha Beach
Chung Hom Kok Beach            Middle Bay Beach
Clear Water Bay First Beach    Repulse Bay Beach  
Clear Water Bay Second Beach   Shek O Beach  
Deep Water Bay Beach           South Bay Beach  
Discovery Bay*                 St. Stephen's Beach  
Hap Mun Bay Beach              Tong Fuk Beach
Hung Shing Yeh Beach           Trio Beach
Kiu Tsui Beach                 Turtle Cove Beach  
Kwun Yam Beach                 Upper Cheung Sha Beach
Lo So Shing Beach

Grade 2 beaches are:
 
Approach Beach                 Golden Beach  
Big Wave Bay Beach             Hoi Mei Wan Beach
Butterfly Beach                Kadoorie Beach  
Cafeteria New Beach            Lido Beach  
Cafeteria Old Beach            Ma Wan Tung Wan Beach  
Casam Beach                    Pui O Beach
Castle Peak Beach              Silver Mine Bay Beach

Grade 4 beaches are:
 
Silverstrand Beach             Stanley Main Beach  
 
     The beach with an asterisk is a non-gazetted beach. All gazetted beaches are equipped with shark nets.

     A summary of beach grades is published weekly before the weekend. Latest beach grades based on the most current data may be obtained from the department's websites on Beach Water Quality (www.beachwq.gov.hk or www.epd.gov.hk/epd/beach) or the beach hotline, 2511 6666.

     Compared with the grading released last week, Silverstrand Beach and Stanley Main Beach have been changed from Grade 1 to Grade 4.

     Silver Mine Bay Beach has been upgraded to Grade 2 since its last grading (Grade 4) this Thursday (July 26).

     "The very poor water quality of Silverstrand Beach and Stanley Main Beach is due to the heavy rainfall in the last few days, which flushed pollutants from the beach hinterland and caused a sudden deterioration of water quality," a spokesman said.

     "For Silver Mine Bay Beach, we observed temporary deterioration of water quality largely due to heavy rain. The latest samples taken show that the water quality of the beach has returned to normal."

     Under our present grading system, beaches are classified into four grades according to the level of E. coli in the water.

     Grades are calculated on the basis of the geometric mean of the E. coli counts on the five most recent sampling occasions.

     Grade 4 is assigned to beaches whose last E. coli reading exceeded a threshold figure, irrespective of the geometric mean. Swimmers are advised to avoid these beaches until the water quality improves.

     People are advised not to swim at the closed beaches.

     The EPD spokesman warned that many beaches were likely to be more polluted than their 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.

Ends/Friday, July 27, 2012
Issued at HKT 15:31

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