Revealed: Cleanest and dirtiest swimming spots in NSW
The annual Beachwatch report into the cleanliness of popular swimming and surfing spots around NSW has been released, with nine sites rising in the rankings with another nine being downgraded due to pollution. HOW YOUR BEACH RATES
NSW
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Sydney’s most popular surfing and swimming beaches have been given a clean bill of health ahead of summer, but water quality in many of NSW’s coastal lakes and lagoons remains poor.
The State of the Beaches 2018-19 report reveals the Pacific Ocean’s swell’s, and also tidal movement’s, ability to flush away pollutants after heavy rain played a key role in water quality results.
Of the 228 monitored sites, 86 per cent passed water quality tests — a slight improvement on last year.
And in a move that will further enhance results, the State government will spend $700,000 on two problem sites, including at Terrigal where animal and human faeces were recently identified as contributing to poor water quality.
Water quality at nine monitored sites were upgraded to good or very good, but nine were also downgraded.
Ocean beaches were overall the cleanest places to swim with just three out of 126 monitored sites returning poor tests. Malabar Beach in Sydney’s east was list among the poor results.
Iconic beaches such as Bondi and the stretch of sand at Manly each retained “good” or “very good” ratings.
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In contrast, 11 out of 67 estuarine beaches were ranked as “poor”, including Rose Bay beach on Sydney Harbour and Middle Harbour’s Davidson Reserve and Oatley Bay Baths and Carss Point Baths in the lower Georges River.
Just five of the 19 monitored coastal lakes and lagoons received a good or very good grading, with the report noting that many were affected by wet weather together with proximity to the ocean.
“When the entrance is open and the site is near that opening, the site can be well-flushed
by clean ocean water, and water quality is often of a high standard,” it said.
“As a general precaution, it is recommended that swimming at lake and lagoon swimming sites be avoided during and for up to three days after rainfall or if there are signs of stormwater pollution such as discoloured water or floating debris.”
Water quality improved on Sydney’s northern beaches at Dee Why and Shelly beaches, in Sydney’s east at Maroubra, at Hayes St beach in the harbour and at Jibbon Beach and Gymea Bay Baths in the south.
However, higher than recommended pollutants were found at Bilarong Reserve at Narrabeen Lake.
Outside of Sydney, a raft of Central Coast beaches were downgraded after failing water quality tests, including North Entrance and Toowoon Bay.
Sydney’s most polluted site — Foreshores Beach in Botany Bay — retained its “very poor” grading, with pollution from sewage overflows discharging to nearby Mill Stream contributing to the result.
Of the five monitored ocean baths, Cabbage Tree Bay Rockpool on the Central Coast retained its “poor” grading.
The report excluded swimming sites in the Lake Macquarie region, with the council withdrawing from the program.
Environment Minister Matt Kean said swimming sites in NSW were the cleanest since water monitoring began.
“This year, 86 per cent of the State’s swimming sites are rated as very good or good, which is a significant achievement and great news as we head into beach season,” he said.
“Estuarine swimming sites have never been this clean, with a record-breaking 82 per cent listed as very good or good.”
Mr Kean said $500,00 would be spent on addressing water quality issues at Terrigal Beach and surrounding lagoons, with $200,000 to establish an expert panel to tackle pollutants at Tuggerah Lakes.
Originally published as Revealed: Cleanest and dirtiest swimming spots in NSW