You are here: Home > Water > Beachwatch programs > Reporting > Annual reports > Beachwatch Partnership Program State of the Beaches 2007-08

Newcastle Council

Ocean baths: Merewether Main Pool, Merewether Learners Pool, Canoe Pool and Newcastle Baths. For details see 08472Newcastle.pdf, 198 KB.

Local government area description

Newcastle City Council covers an area of 183 square kilometres and has a population of approximately 140 000 people.

Land uses within the region are varied and include residential, rural, commercial, recreational, industrial and bushland.

Program outline

Newcastle Council routinely monitors four ocean baths. These are Merewether Main Pool, Merewether Learners Pool, Canoe Pool and Newcastle Baths.

Merewether Main Pool and Newcastle Baths are monitored weekly throughout the year, but only data from the summer swimming season (October 2007 to April 2008) are included in this report.

Faecal coliform results were assessed against the NHMRC (1990) swimming water quality guidelines to determine suitability for swimming. In months where four samples were collected, the closest sample in time from an adjacent month was ‘borrowed’ to provide the five samples necessary for the compliance calculation. In some months only three samples could be collected due to pool closures for cleaning.

Council presented water quality data at open community meetings throughout the summer season, and issued joint media releases with DECC.

Seven ocean beaches in the Newcastle City Council area are monitored by Hunter Water Corporation as part of the Beachwatch program. This information is provided as weekly star ratings in local newspapers and on Hunter Water Corporation’s website, and data are also presented in the Beachwatch and Harbourwatch State of the Beaches report series.

Rainfall

Rainfall data presented in the timeseries plots were obtained from Hunter Water Corporation’s gauge at Burwood Beach.

Ocean baths

All four locations complied with NHMRC (1990) swimming guidelines in all months in which sufficient samples were collected during the 2007–2008 summer swimming season (Figure 8).

Very low levels of faecal coliforms were recorded at Newcastle Ocean Baths and Canoe Pool throughout the monitoring period. A single slightly elevated faecal coliform result was recorded at Merewether Main Pool in December 2007 during wet weather conditions. For details see 08472Newcastle.pdf, 198 KB

Figure 8: Summary of compliance with NHMRC (1990) microbiological guidelines for swimming at Newcastle Council swimming sites during the 2007–2008 summer swimming season

Field sampling

Water samples for the Beachwatch Program are collected by a number of different agencies. To ensure that sampling methodologies are consistent and information is accurate, sampling activities are audited regularly each year.

The collection of water samples by Hunter Water, Sydney Water and local councils is audited by Beachwatch Field Officers throughout the year. Audits on Beachwatch Field Officers are conducted during the year by the Beachwatch Senior Project Officer.

These audits include an assessment of the field officers performance according to Beachwatch Programs sampling protocols, including aseptic sampling technique, sample storage and recording of field observations.

After each audit, a report that describes the results of the audit and any issues of concern is provided to the audited organisation for its information or action if necessary. The results of these audits can also be found in the Annual State of the Beaches Reports.

Laboratory analysis

Beachwatch

The three commercial laboratories which analyse Beachwatch water samples are NATA accredited  and take place in regular proficiency testing as part of this accreditation.

To further determine the reliability of sample analysis and the accuracy of the water quality data provided, Beachwatch has also run an inter-laboratory testing program since 1993. At the start of each month, samples are collected from a location on the lower Parramatta River and submitted to six laboratories for faecal coliform and enterococci analysis. The results from each laboratory are used to calculate a ‘consensus mean’. The consensus mean is the best available estimate of the true density of bacteria within the sample. Individual results from the laboratories are compared to this value to determine how close each laboratory was to the best available estimate. The results of this testing are presented each year in the Annual State of the Beaches Report.

Beachwatch Partnership Program

The laboratories used in the Beachwatch Partnership Program are mostly NATA accredited. As many of these laboratories are located in regional areas, there are delays in testing owing to overnight delivery of samples. These delays can provide the opportunity for bacterial growth or die-off, causing variation in laboratory results. To overcome this problem, Bioballs have been used to assess laboratory performance since 2004.

Bioballs are freeze-dried balls that contain a precise number of indicator bacteria. Four samples are submitted to each laboratory during the summer season and the results from each laboratory are compared to the known number of bacteria to determine laboratory performance. The results of this testing are reported each year in the Annual State of the Beaches Report.

Community reporting

Providing the community with current beach water quality information is a core function of Beachwatch. The quality assurance program enables Beachwatch to measure the accuracy, consistency of content, and punctuality of our reporting. When necessary, this information is used to improve the reporting process. Audits of Beachwatch reporting are conducted weekly and reported each year in the Annual State of the Beaches Report.