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EPA list ranks country's best and worst beaches

Two surfers walk along Kangao Beach in Toucheng, Ilan County, yesterday. PHOTO: KUO YEN-HUI, TAIPEI TIMES

As the mercury rises, an increasing number of people are hitting the beach for some rest and relaxation. To ensure the safety and health of beachgoers, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday released a list of the nation's top 10 beaches where revelers can enjoy the summer sun.

“In addition to minding one’s safety while in the water, people should also make sure that the water quality at the beaches they visit is good enough to swim in,” said Chu Yu-chi (朱雨其), director-general of the EPA’s department of environmental monitoring and information management.

In a water quality inspection conducted by the administration last Sunday and Monday at beaches around the nation, Taipei County’s New Jinshan Bathing Beach (新金山) was rated “superior” for water quality and the cleanest beach for swimming, Chu said.

“The water quality at beaches is rated by its E. coli concentration,” Chu said.

Class A beaches, such as at Jinshan, contain E. coli concentrations of less than 1,000 colony-forming units (CFU), Chu said, adding that to achieve the “superior” rating, the beach had to have a most probable number (MPN) below 10.

Beaches with good water quality — with MPNs of between 11 and 50 — included Fulong Beach (福隆) in Taipei County, Chiting (崎頂) and Tunghsiao beaches (通霄) in Miaoli County and Shanyuan Beach (杉原) in Taitung County, Chu said.

Tainan County’s Masago Beach (馬沙溝) was rated as having average water quality (51 to 200 MPN), while Kenting Tiaoshih Recreational Seashore (墾丁跳石) in Pingtung County was rated as fair (200 to 1,000 MPN), Chu said.

Three beaches — Ta-an Beach (大安) in Taichung County and Hsitzuwan (西子灣) and Chichin beaches (旗津) in Kaohsiung City — were rated as below par for Class A, containing over 1,000 CFU of E. coli concentration, making them unsuitable for swimming at this time, Chu said.

However, Chu also said that some of the beaches may have contained higher than normal germ concentrations because of the heavy rain in the past few weeks, which could have carried pollutants from the land into the seas.

“As a rule of thumb, it is best not to go swimming within three days of a typhoon or a heavy rain, as water is generally the dirtiest then,” Chu said.

The EPA will conduct biweekly inspections of water quality at top beaches around the nation until September, when the season ends, Chu said.

The latest inspection results can be found online at www.epa.gov.tw/wqm.
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