Our water quality monitoring program has shown Pittwater to have excellent water quality. Find out more about the estuary and its unique features.
Pittwater is situated in the Sydney Metropolitan district of New South Wales. Pittwater is a tide-dominated drowned valley estuary with an open entrance situated in the Sydney Metropolitan Region of New South Wales. It is one of the bodies of water that separate the Greater Sydney Metropolitan Region from the Central Coast.
Pittwater is a large embayment connected to the Hawkesbury River estuary where the river enters the sea. Pittwater is popular for boating, fishing, sailing and swimming.
As part of our water quality monitoring program we assess the water quality and ecosystem health of an estuary using a range of relevant indicators. We have supported Northern Beaches Council develop and carry out a monitoring program to assess the water quality of estuaries in their local government area. Sampling is carried out fortnightly between October and April each year. Five sites are sampled in Pittwater.
The monitoring program has been ongoing since 2017. The most recent sampling was completed over the 2021–22 summer.
This report card represents 2 water quality indicators that we routinely measure: the amount of algae present and water clarity. Low levels of these 2 indicators equate with good water quality.
The report card shows the condition of the estuary was excellent with:
The past results of the monitoring program, including detailed water quality report cards, are available on the Northern Beaches Council website.
Find out more about our estuary report cards and what each grade means. Read our sampling, data analysis and reporting protocols and find out how we calculate these grades.
We have monitored water quality in Pittwater since 2017. This table shows the water quality grades for this estuary over that time.
Grades for algae, water clarity and overall are represented as:
As part of our Beachwatch program we assess swimming suitability at 10 swimming sites in Pittwater using microbial indicators. We collect samples at each site weekly between October and April, and monthly from May to September, to calculate the suitability grade. Sampling is ongoing. Each grade reflects the most recent 100 water quality results to April 2022. Find out more about how we monitor beach water quality.
| Local government area | Swim site name | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Northern Beaches | Barrenjoey Beach | Good |
| Great Mackerel Beach | Very good | |
| The Basin | Very good | |
| Paradise Beach Baths | Good | |
| Clareville Beach | Good | |
| Taylors Point Baths | Good | |
| North Scotland Island | Good | |
| Elvina Bay | Very good | |
| South Scotland Island | Good | |
| Bayview Baths | Poor |
Estuarine, lake and lagoon water can sometimes be unsuitable for swimming, especially after rainfall when stormwater and wastewater can overflow into swimming areas. Learn more about what the grades mean and how we grade swimming sites on our beach classification webpage.
Estuary type: Drowned valley
| Entrance location |
Latitude (ºS) | –33.58 |
|---|---|---|
| Longitude (ºE) | 151.32 | |
| Catchment area (km2) | 50.8 | |
| Estuary area (km2) | 18.4 | |
| Estuary volume (ML) | 181,836.2 | |
| Average depth (m) | 9.9 | |
Bathymetric and coastal topography data for this estuary are available in our data portal.
The Pittwater catchment is moderately disturbed with urban areas to the south east and the conservation area of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park to the north west. Pittwater is a popular site for water recreation, such as sailing and fishing.
Local councils manage estuaries within their area unless the estuary is attached to a marine park. Northern Beaches Council manage this estuary.
This estuary supports the endangered ecological community, coastal saltmarsh, which provides habitat for many species including the endangered bush stone-curlew.
Read more about the biodiversity in our estuaries.