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The Environmental Protection Department today (August 10) released the latest grading of water quality of 33 beaches.
Twenty-four beaches were graded as Good (Grade 1) and nine were graded as Fair (Grade 2).
Grade 1 beaches are:
Big Wave Bay Beach Middle Bay Beach
Clear Water Bay First Beach Repulse Bay Beach
Clear Water Bay Second Beach Shek O Beach
Deep Water Bay Beach Silver Mine Bay Beach
Discovery Bay* Silverstrand Beach
Hap Mun Bay Beach South Bay Beach
Hung Shing Yeh Beach St. Stephen's Beach
Kiu Tsui Beach Stanley Main Beach
Kwun Yam Beach Tong Fuk Beach
Lo So Shing Beach Trio Beach
Lower Cheung Sha Beach Turtle Cove Beach
Ma Wan Tung Wan Beach Upper Cheung Sha Beach
Grade 2 beaches are:
Butterfly Beach Chung Hom Kok Beach
Cafeteria New Beach Golden Beach
Cafeteria Old Beach Kadoorie Beach
Castle Peak Beach Pui O Beach
Cheung Chau Tung Wan Beach
The beach with an asterisk is a non-gazetted beach. All gazetted beaches are equipped with shark nets.
Beach grades are published weekly before the weekend. The information may also be obtained from the department's website at www.epd.gov.hk or the beach hotline, 2511 6666.
Compared with the grading released last week, Deep Water Bay Beach, Silver Mine Bay Beach and Silverstrand Beach have been upgraded from Grade 2 to Grade 1.
"The changes are generally within the normal range of fluctuation of the bacteriological water quality of the beaches," a department spokesman said.
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.
Seven gazetted beaches -- Anglers' Beach, Approach Beach, Ting Kau Beach, Casam Beach, Gemini Beaches, Hoi Mei Wan Beach and Lido Beach -- are closed to swimmers year round because of poor water quality.
People are advised not to swim at these closed beaches.
The 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, August 10, 2007
Issued at HKT 14:01
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