6 November, 2013

Summer swim spot surveying soon

Summer water quality tests indicating how suitable our most popular beaches, rivers and lakes are for swimming will begin later this month. (SUBS: Mon Nov 25)

The Northland Regional Council has been monitoring bacterial levels at popular swimming spots over summer for more than a decade.

John Ballinger, the council’s Environmental Monitoring Programme Manager, says this year’s programme gets underway on Monday November 25 and will run until the last week of March.

He says hundreds of samples will be taken from 47 coastal and 12 freshwater sites across the region to check bacterial levels at the Northland beaches, lakes and rivers most often used for swimming, water sports and similar forms of recreation.

Results from the testing programme will be posted online every Friday at www.nrc.govt.nz/swimming allowing Northlanders and visiting holidaymakers to make informed decisions about where they swim.

Mr Ballinger says samples are given one of three grades depending on the number of bacteria in them: ‘green’ (suitable to swim), ‘amber’ (potentially unsuitable for swimming) or ‘red’ (unsuitable for swimming).

As well as being posted online, weekly results are forwarded to all three district councils, the Northland District Health Board and other interested parties, with the health board (DHB) and councils informed of any results showing elevated bacterial levels within 24 hours.

“It’s then the DHB and the appropriate district council’s responsibility to take action.”

Mr Ballinger says that action by the DHB or affected district council can take a variety of forms including;

• further site investigations to establish the source of any contamination
• public warnings not to swim or gather shellfish
• putting up permanent warning signs at the worst sites.

He says reassuringly for swimmers, most of the popular spots the regional council monitors are usually safe, although Northland’s high rainfall and hilly terrain meant many could be temporarily contaminated by run-off from the land for several days after heavy rain.

He reminds people of the four simple tips they should remember as a useful rule of thumb when trying to judge water quality:

• Don’t swim if there are warning signs indicating unsafe water
• Don’t swim for two or three days after heavy rain
• Don’t swim if water looks dirty/murky, smells or has scum on its surface;
• Be aware of potential sources of contamination – both nearby and upstream.

Mr Ballinger says anyone wanting to report concerns about water quality
can contact the regional council’s freephone 24/7 Environmental Hotline on 0800 504 639.

Those wanting to check water quality at their favourite spot can visit the council’s website www.nrc.govt.nz/swimming or freephone 0800 002 004 for more information.

ENDS

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