State of the Beaches report 2009-10
Beach Monitoring in NSW
The water quality of beaches and other swimming locations is monitored to provide the community with accurate information on the cleanliness of the water and to enable individuals to make informed decisions about where and when to swim. Routine assessment also measures the impact of pollution sources, enables the effectiveness of stormwater and wastewater management practices to be assessed, and highlights areas where further work is required.
A total of 265 swimming locations along the New South Wales coast were monitored during 2009-2010 under three programs: Beachwatch, Harbourwatch and the Beachwatch Partnership Program (Figure S1).
A summary of results and detailed information on Beach Monitoring, Sanitary Inspection and Managing Beach Pollution (10816bwar10chapters1to3.pdf, 2477 kb) is available for download.
Beachwatch
The Beachwatch program was established in 1989 to monitor Sydney's ocean beaches and was expanded to ocean beaches in the Hunter and Illawarra regions in 1996.
Harbourwatch
The Harbourwatch program was established in 1994 to monitor swimming locations in Sydney's estuarine waterways, including Pittwater, Sydney Harbour, lower Georges River, Botany Bay and Port Hacking.
Beachwatch Partnership Program
The Beachwatch Partnership Program was established as a pilot in 2002 and currently includes 14 local councils along the NSW coast:
- Byron Shire Council
- Ballina Shire Council
- Richmond Valley Council
- Clarence Valley Council
- Coffs Harbour City Council
- Kempsey Shire Council
- Port Macquarie-Hastings Council
- Port Stephens Council
- Newcastle Council
- Wyong Council
- Gosford Council
- Shoalhaven City Council
- Eurobodalla Shire Council
Bega Valley Council.
The water quality sampling and laboratory analysis activities are fully funded by each local council. DECCW provides quality assurance support and assistance with community reporting.
Health risks
Contamination of recreational waters with faecal material from animal and human sources can pose significant health problems to beach users owing to the presence of pathogens (disease-causing micro-organisms) in the faecal material. The most common groups of pathogens found in recreational waters are bacteria, protozoans and viruses.
Exposure to contaminated water can cause gastroenteritis, with symptoms including vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach-ache, nausea, headache and fever. Eye, ear, skin and upper respiratory tract infections can also be contracted when pathogens come into contact with small breaks and tears in the skin or ruptures of the delicate membranes in the ear or nose.
Certain groups of users may be more exposed to the threat of microbial infection than others. Children, the elderly, people with compromised immune systems, tourists, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are generally most at risk.
Recreational water quality guidelines
In May 2009, new guidelines for monitoring and reporting recreational water quality were adopted for use in New South Wales: the National Health and Medical Research Council’s Guidelines for Managing Risks in Recreational Water (NHMRC 2008).
The NHMRC 2008 guidelines have been adopted in all Australian States that currently routinely monitor recreational water quality (Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia) and are supported by Guidance Notes developed by the Department of Health Western Australia following a national workshop held in Perth in 2007 (Department of Health, Western Australia 2007).
The new guidelines focus on the assessment and management of hazards to minimise health risks. Under the new guidelines, recreational water quality at swimming sites is no longer reported as percentage compliance based on microbial data, but as Beach Suitability Grades.
Beach Suitability Grades
Beach Suitability Grades provide an assessment of the suitability of a swimming location for recreation over time. There are five grades:
Very Good - Location has generally excellent microbial water quality and very few potential sources of faecal pollution. Water is considered suitable for swimming for almost all of the time.
Good - Location has generally good microbial water quality and water is considered suitable for swimming for most of the time. Swimming should be avoided during and for up to one day following heavy rain at ocean beaches and for up to three days at estuarine sites.
Fair - Microbial water quality is generally suitable for swimming, but because of the presence of significant sources of faecal contamination, extra care should be taken to avoid swimming during and for up to three days following rainfall or if there are signs of pollution such as discoloured water, odour, or debris in the water.
Poor - Location is susceptible to faecal pollution and microbial water quality is not always suitable for swimming. During dry weather conditions, ensure that the swimming location is free of signs of pollution, such as discoloured water, odour or debris in the water, and avoid swimming at all times during and for up to three days following rainfall.
Very Poor - Location is very susceptible to faecal pollution and microbial water quality may often be unsuitable for swimming. It is generally recommended to avoid swimming at these sites.
The Beach Suitability Grades are determined from a combination of microbial assessment (water quality measurements gathered over previous years) and sanitary inspection (identification and rating of potential pollution sources at a beach) using the matrix in Table S1.
Microbial Assessment Category
NHMRC (2008) advocates the use of enterococci as the single preferred faecal indicator in marine waters. These bacteria are excreted in faeces and are rarely present in unpolluted waters.
The Microbial Assessment Category is determined from the 95th percentile of a dataset of at least 100 enterococci data points. The 95th percentiles in this report were calculated using a Microsoft® Excel tool developed by Dr Richard Lugg (Department of Health, Western Australia). This tool is also used by other State Governments (Department of Health, Western Australia 2007). There are four Microbial Assessment Categories (A to D) (Table S1).
Sanitary Inspection Category
The aim of a sanitary inspection is to identify all potential sources of faecal contamination at a swimming site and assess the risk to public health posed by these sources. It is a qualitative assessment, and should, to some degree, correlate with the microbial water quality data.
Sources considered in the Sanitary Inspection include: bather shedding, toilet facilities, stormwater discharges, sewage treatment plant discharges, sewage overflows, sewage chokes, on-site wastewater systems, wastewater re-use, river discharges, lagoon/lake discharges, boats and animals.
Through the sanitary inspection process, beaches are categorised to reflect the likelihood of faecal contamination. There are five categories, ranging from Very Low to Very High (Table S1).
Table S1: Beach classification matrix
| Microbial Assessment Category (MAC |
|---|
A
(≤ 40 cfu/100mL) | B
41-200 cfu/100mL) | C
201-500
cfu/100mL) | D
(> 500 cfu/100mL) |
|---|
| Sanitary Inspection Category | Very Low | Very Good
| Very Good | Follow Up | Follow Up |
|---|
Low | Very Good | Good | Follow Up | Follow Up |
Moderate | Good | Good | Poor | Poor |
High | Good | Fair | Poor | Very Poor |
Very High | Follow Up | Fair | Poor | Very Poor |
Source: NHMRC (2008)
Results for 2009-2010
This report includes results from all swimming locations monitored in New South Wales under the Beachwatch, Harbourwatch and Beachwatch Partnership programs. Results are presented for eight regions:
- Far North Coast (Byron Bay, Ballina, Richmond Valley and Clarence Valley councils)
- North Coast (Coffs Harbour, Kempsey and Port Macquarie–Hastings councils)
- Hunter (Port Stephens, Newcastle and Lake Macquarie councils)
- Central Coast (Wyong and Gosford councils) Details – Central coast
- Sydney Ocean Beaches (Pittwater, Warringah, Manly, Waverley, Randwick and Sutherland councils)
- Sydney Estuarine Beaches (Pittwater, Sydney Harbour, lower Georges River, Botany Bay and Port Hacking)
- Illawarra (Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama councils)
- South Coast (Shoalhaven, Eurobodalla and Bega Valley councils)
Each region includes a general overview, an overview of the council or waterway and beach pages showing results for individual swimming locations. Explanation of graphs and charts on beach pages:
Quality assurance
For detailed results download Quality Assurance (10816bwar10ch5qualityassurance.pdf, 144 kb)
To ensure that data collected under the Beachwatch Programs is accurate and reliable, quality assurance of field sampling, laboratory analysis, data management and community reporting is undertaken.
Field sampling
Auditing of field sampling in the Sydney, Hunter, Illawarra and Beachwatch Partnership regions showed an excellent level of compliance with established Beachwatch sampling protocols. All sampling officers demonstrated a good understanding of aseptic sampling and storage techniques and a sound local knowledge of potential beach pollution sources and water quality issues.
Laboratory analysis
The results from laboratories used in the three Beachwatch Programs were found not to be significantly different from those of other NATA accredited laboratories in their estimation of enterococci densities. This indicates that the results reported are in the acceptable range, and confidence can be placed in the accuracy of water quality results reported under Beachwatch Programs. Although one laboratory used in the Partnership Program reported three results outside the acceptable range, testing of additional samples were found to be within the acceptable range.
Data management
Water quality data are electronically forwarded to Beachwatch Programs from the contracted laboratory, Hunter Water, Sydney Water and partnership councils. The water quality data are uploaded to the Beachwatch water quality database (BACTO) for storage and data evaluation. All data are cross checked and anomalous results identified.
Community reporting
Beachwatch Programs provides beach water quality information through Sydney daily bulletins, weekly star ratings, monthly reports and regional council reporting.
The Sydney daily bulletins were produced to a high standard with an average of 98 per cent accuracy and timeliness, with only minor formatting errors detected. Weekly star ratings and monthly reports were created by using computer-generated calculations and were approved by a number of individuals and/or agencies to ensure the accuracy of information reported before distribution.
Community reporting in regional areas by partnership councils was assessed by Beachwatch staff during field visits. Most regional councils provide information on their websites, and regularly forward results to Beachwatch Programs for weekly star rating reporting on the DECCW website.
A number of joint media releases were issued by DECCW and councils throughout the summer season to promote councils’ monitoring and reporting activities and to advise on recreational water quality.
Appendix
The report also includes:
Page last updated: 26 February 2011
