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The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (May 3) released the latest grading of water quality of 37 beaches.
Thirteen beaches were rated as Good (Grade 1), 22 were rated as Fair (Grade 2), one was rated as Poor (Grade 3) and one was rated as Very Poor (Grade 4).
Grade 1 beaches are:
Cheung Chau Tung Wan Beach South Bay Beach
Chung Hom Kok Beach St. Stephen's Beach
Clear Water Bay Second Beach Tong Fuk Beach
Hap Mun Bay Beach Trio Beach
Hung Shing Yeh Beach Turtle Cove Beach
Kiu Tsui Beach Upper Cheung Sha Beach
Repulse Bay Beach
Grade 2 beaches are:
Approach Beach Kadoorie Beach
Big Wave Bay Beach Kwun Yam Beach
Butterfly Beach Lido Beach
Cafeteria New Beach Lower Cheung Sha Beach
Cafeteria Old Beach Ma Wan Tung Wan Beach
Casam Beach Middle Bay Beach
Clear Water Bay First Beach Pui O Beach
Deep Water Bay Beach Shek O Beach
Discovery Bay* Silver Mine Bay Beach
Golden Beach Silverstrand Beach
Hoi Mei Wan Beach Stanley Main Beach
Grade 3 beach is:
Castle Peak Beach
Grade 4 beach is:
Lo So Shing 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, Approach Beach has been upgraded from Grade 3 to Grade 2. Lower Cheung Sha Beach has been changed from Grade 1 to 2. Lo So Shing Beach has been changed from Grade 1 to 4. St. Stephenˇ¦s Beach has been upgraded to Grade 1 since its last grading (Grade 4) this Tuesday (April 30).
"The very poor water quality of Lo So Shing Beach may be due to the heavy rainfall in the last few days and we have been conducting pollution investigation at the beach," an EPD spokesman said.
"The changes for Approach Beach and Lower Cheung Sha Beach are generally within the normal range of fluctuation of the bacteriological water quality of the beaches."
"For St. Stephenˇ¦s Beach, we observed temporary deterioration of water quality, but the latest sample obtained on Tuesday (April 30) shows that the beach water quality has resumed normal. Our investigation did not show any specific pollution sources, and we will continue to monitor this beach regularly."
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, May 3, 2013
Issued at HKT 16:10
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