Hong Kong rainfall in the month of June 2008 was a record high in 125 years, reaching 1346.1 millimetres. Total rainfall in the first six months of 2008 was about 69% above average level.
Issues & Implications
1. Since my normal beach/swimming season began in May, sunny weekends have been extremely rare ==> I have only visited the beach 3 times for swimming (dragonboat practice not included).
2. Due to heavy and more seriously, continuous, rainfall, sea water has been heavily polluted hence unfit for swimming ==> even when there was occasional sunshine, I still could not go swimming.
3. South Bay Beach was also closed for more than half a week due to water contamination ==> leaving me with no choice but to resort to Middle Bay.
4. Beach water quality suffered everywhere in Hong Kong. Even former Grade 1* beaches, such as South Bay and Turtle Cove, have dropped in their rating. As of today, the only Grade 1 beach left in Hong Kong is Hung Shing Yeh on Lamma Island.
Solution
1. Keep monitoring beach water quality and weather forecast everyday to ensure I will not miss out on a rare perfect match - Grade 1 for South Bay AND sunny periods forecasted AND 3 days after heavy rainfall.
2. Consider travelling to Lamma Island on a sunny day - 3 days after heavy rainfall - to swim in Grade 1 sea water.
2. Start planning for relocation to a tropical island.
Resources Required
Link to 2007 Annual Beach Water Quality Report
Link to Updated Beach Water Quality Report
Link to Yahoo HK Weather Forecast
*Beach Water Grading system of Environmental Protection Department:
(Cases p | |||
| GRADE
| BEACH WATER QUALITY Good | E. COLI # (COUNT PER 100ML) <= 24 | MINOR ILLNESS RATE (CASES / 1000 SWIMMERS) Undetectable |
| 2 | Fair | 25 - 180 | <= 10 |
| 3 | Poor | 181 - 610 | 11 - 15 |
| 4 | Very Poor | > 610 or | > 15 |
# Except where indicated, the E. coli level is the geometric mean E. coli level of the 5 most recent sampling occasions.
* Skin and gastrointestinal illnesses.
No comments:
Post a Comment