Number of pages: 02
Date: 22 November, 2011

Annual Testing of Popular Swim Spots Begins

Summer water quality tests to indicate how safe Northland’s most popular beaches, rivers and lakes are for swimming will begin again shortly. (subs: Mon Nov 28)

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 Officer – State of the
Environment and Compliance, says this year’s programme will begin on Monday November 28 and will run until the end of March next year.

“The programme monitors bacterial levels at beaches, lakes and rivers most often used for swimming, water sports and similar forms of recreation.”

He says hundreds of samples will be taken from 47 coastal and 12 freshwater sites across the region this year.

Results will be posted online every Friday at www.nrc.govt.nz/swimming allowing people to make informed decisions about where they swim.

Mr Ballinger says this year’s programme will contain about 30 percent fewer sites than last year.

“Sites have been removed for a variety of reasons, including a number which are permanently recording good water quality, or which are no longer as popular as they once were. “

He says a number of spots which have consistently recorded poor results in recent years have also been removed, as in most cases tests showed they had been contaminated by ducks or gulls and there was little the council could do to prevent that.

In those cases, it made more sense to allocate the staff resources elsewhere and erect permanent signs to inform the public of the issue and risk, rather than continuing to test for a known issue.

In a number of other cases where tests showed sites had been contaminated by livestock, the council was working with nearby landowners to try to manage the issue.

Mr Ballinger says the summer samples will be given one of three grades depending on the number of bacteria they contain: ‘Green’ (safe to swim), ‘Amber’ (elevated levels of bacteria) or ‘Red’ (unsafe for swimming).

As well as being posted on the regional council’s website, results will also be forwarded weekly to district councils, the Northland District Health Board and other interested parties.

Mr Ballinger says the health board (DHB) and district councils are also informed of any results showing elevated bacterial levels within 24 hours.

“It then becomes the responsibility of the DHB and the appropriate district council to take action. This can include further site investigations to establish the source of contamination, public warnings not to swim or gather shellfish or erection of permanent warning signs at the worst sites.”

Mr Ballinger says the majority of the popular spots the regional council monitors are safe for swimming most of the time, however, 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.

People 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.

However, he says there are four simple things to use as a good rule of thumb to judge water quality:

• DON”T swim if there are warning signs indicating water is unsafe
• AVOID swimming for two to three days after heavy rain
• DON”T swim if water looks dirty/murky, smells or it has scum on the surface;
• BE AWARE of potential sources of contamination nearby or upstream.

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

ENDS

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