XN000022-1990-09-20 — Page 13

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1990

THE GRADING IS BASED ON THE MOST RECENT E. COLI DATA OBTAINED BY THE EPD IN ITS ROUTINE MONITORING PROGRAMME. AS WITH LAST YEAR, THE GRADING ALSO INCLUDES AN ESTIMATE OF THE RISK OF SUFFERING SOME MINOR SKIN OR GASTROINTESTINAL COMPLAINTS AS A RESULT OF SWIMMING AT A BEACH WHICH HAS SOME DEGREE OF POLLUTION.

THE ESTIMATE IS BASED ON A VERY LARGE BODY OF STATISTICAL INFORMATION GATHERED IN HONG KONG IN RECENT BATHING SEASONS.

THE GRADING OF SOME BEACHES MAY VARY DURING THE SUMMER. THIS REPRESENTS A NATURAL FLUCTUATION IN THE BACTERIAL QUALITY OF BATHING WATERS IN MOST CASES, AS RAIN AND TIDES BRING MORE OR LESS POLLUTION TO THE BEACHES.

HOWEVER, THE GRADES GIVE A GOOD GENERAL PICTURE OF THE WATER QUALITY AT BATHING BEACHES AT THE TIME OF REPORTING AND FORM THE BEST AVAILABLE FORECAST FOR THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE.

THE SYSTEM FOR GRADING BEACH WATER QUALITY IS AS FOLLOWS:

GRADE "1" INDICATES THAT THE WATER QUALITY IS GOOD. THE E. COLI COUNT IS NO MORE THAN 24 PER 100 MILLILITRES AT EACH BEACH 30 GRADED, AND THE EXPECTED RISK OF MINOR ILLNESS TO SWIMMERS IS UNDETECTABLE.

GRADE "2" INDICATES THAT THE WATER QUALITY IS FAIR. THE E. COLI COUNT IS NO MORE THAN 180 PER 100 MILLILITRES AT EACH BEACH GRADED, AND THE EXPECTED HEALTH RISK IS NO MORE THAN 10 CASES OF MINOR ILLNESS PER 1,000 SWIMMERS.

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GRADE 3" INDICATES THAT THE WATER QUALITY IS ACCEPTABLE. E. COLI COUNT IS NO MORE THAN 610 PER 100 MILLILITRES AT BEACH SO GRADED, AND THE EXPECTED HEALTH RISK IS NO MORE 15 CASES OF MINOR ILLNESS PER 1,000 SWIMMERS.

GRADE 4" INDICATES THAT THE WATER QUALITY IS POOR. THE E. COUNT IS MORE THAN 610 PER 100 MILLILITRES AT EACH BEACH GRADED, AND THE EXPECTED HEALTH RISK IS MORE THAN 15 CASES MINOR ILLNESS PER 1,000 SWIMMERS.

THE EACH

THAN

COLI

SO

OF

THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO CLOSE A BEACH ΤΟ SWIMMERS BASED ON A JUDGEMENT OF WHAT DEGREE OF POLLUTION IS ACCEPTABLE.

IS

BY

NORMALLY, THE CLOSURE OF A BEACH WOULD ONLY BE CONSIDERED THE URBAN OR REGIONAL COUNCIL IF A "4" GRADING OCCURRED REPEATEDLY, SO THAT THE AVERAGE HEALTH RISK OVER THE BATHING SEASON EXCEEDED 15 CASES PER 1,000 SWIMMERS.

SIMILARLY, THE REOPENING OF A CLOSED BEACH WOULD ONLY BE CONSIDERED IF A "3" GRADE OR BETTER WERE CONSISTENTLY OBTAINED.

AT PRESENT, TWO BATHING BEACHES, NAMELY CASTLE PEAK AND OLD CAFETERIA, HAVE BEEN DECLARED UNSUITABLE FOR SWIMMING PURPOSES, BASED ON THE WATER QUALITY DURING PAST SEASONS. THEY ARE POLLUTED BY FABCAL WASTES AND FAIL TO ACHIEVE CONSISTENTLY THE HONG KONG STANDARDS.

/THE PUBLIC