EPD Releases Latest Water Quality Grades for 39 Beaches, 36 Rated Good and 4 Fair.

Grading of beach water quality released

The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (May 2) released the latest grading of water quality for 39 gazetted beaches (see Note 1) and one non-gazetted beach (see Note 2).

Thirty-six beaches were rated as Good (Grade 1) and four as Fair (Grade 2).

Grade 1 beaches are:

Big Wave Bay Beach*

Kwun Yam Beach

Butterfly Beach*

Lo So Shing Beach

Cafeteria New Beach

Lower Cheung Sha Beach

Cafeteria Old Beach

Ma Wan Tung Wan Beach*

Casam Beach*

Middle Bay Beach

Castle Peak Beach

Pui O Beach*

Cheung Chau Tung Wan Beach*

Repulse Bay Beach*

Chung Hom Kok Beach

Shek O Beach*

Clear Water Bay First Beach

Silver Mine Bay Beach*

Clear Water Bay Second Beach*

Silverstrand Beach*

Deep Water Bay Beach*

South Bay Beach*

Discovery Bay Tai Pak Beach [Non-gazetted beach]

St. Stephen's Beach

Golden Beach*

Stanley Main Beach*

Hap Mun Bay Beach*

Tai Po Lung Mei Beach*

Hoi Mei Wan Beach

Tong Fuk Beach

Hung Shing Yeh Beach*

Trio Beach

Kadoorie Beach*

Turtle Cove Beach

Kiu Tsui Beach

Upper Cheung Sha Beach

Grade 2 beaches are:

Anglers' Beach*

Lido Beach*

Approach Beach

Ting Kau Beach*

Compared with the grading released last week, Lido Beach and Ting Kau Beach have been changed from Grade 1 to Grade 2.

"The changes are generally within the normal range of fluctuation of the bacteriological water quality of the beaches," an EPD spokesman said.

Under the present grading system, beaches are classified into four grades, namely Good (Grade 1), Fair (Grade 2), Poor (Grade 3) and Very Poor (Grade 4), 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.

While the ratings represent the general water quality at the beaches, the EPD spokesman reminded members of the public that water quality could be temporarily affected during and after periods of heavy rain. Bathers should avoid swimming at beaches for up to three days after a tropical cyclone or heavy rainfall.

A summary of beach grades is published weekly before the weekend. The latest beach grades based on the most current data may be obtained from the EPD's website on Beach Water Quality (www.epd.gov.hk/epd/beach) or the beach hotline, 2511 6666. Members of the public can also obtain the latest daily water quality forecast information for all beaches that are open for swimming through the EPD's dedicated webpage on the beach water quality forecast (www.epd.gov.hk/en/BWQForecast).

Note 1: Lifesaving services are provided by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department at 22 gazetted beaches, marked with an asterisk (*) above, from April 1. For details, please refer to the Leisure and Cultural Services Department’s Special Announcement (www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/beach/index.html).

Note 2: This refers to Discovery Bay Tai Pak Beach which has no lifesaving service.

Source: AI-generated images

Notes exchange service and electronic lai-see for Chinese New Year

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

As the Chinese New Year draws near, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the three note-issuing banks (The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited and Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited) announced today (January 13) that new notes and good-as-new notes, i.e. used notes which are in good condition and suitable for use as lai-see, will be available for exchange at branches of the three note-issuing banks from February 3 (Tuesday) to February 16 (Monday).

The HKMA encourages the public to use electronic channels including the Faster Payment System available via online or mobile banking, or other e-wallet services for giving lai-see. Giving electronic lai-see is simple and convenient, and will contribute to sustainable development by reducing the usage of physical red packets and banknotes. Major banks and electronic payment operators will encourage giving electronic lai-see by various promotional programmes. The public may refer to the details of these programmes as and when announced by banks and operators.

The three note-issuing banks will put in place appropriate measures to facilitate the notes exchange, including:

(1)

Advancing the opening hour to 8am on the first 3 days of the service period, i.e. February 3 (Tuesday) to February 5 (Thursday), and dedicating the aforesaid additional operation hour, i.e. 8am to 9am, exclusively for providing the notes exchange service;

(2)

Offering online booking service for both new notes and good-as-new notes starting from January 27 (Tuesday), details of which will be announced by individual note-issuing banks within next week; and

(3)

Putting in place crowd management measures such as distributing physical tickets and implementing queue management when needed.

Members of the public who desire to use cash for giving lai-see may wish to check for any remaining stock of new notes or good-as-new notes at home before going to a bank. Also, there is no need to rush to exchange for new notes and good-as-new notes during the first few days of the service period as banks will ensure the supply of these notes throughout the service period.

Source: AI-found images