Wellington City water quality report 'variable'

Many places in Wellington City are good for swimming but a few spots are not so great, especially after rain, a new Recreational Water Quality report card shows.

"The best sites for swimming last summer were Princess Bay, Oriental Bay, Mahanga Bay, Worser Bay and Breaker Bay which have an overall grade of A or B and a low risk of illness," says GWRC Senior Environmental Scientist Summer Greenfield.

"Other sites in Wellington have a moderate risk of illness and are generally safe for swimming unless it's been raining.

Rainfall washes contamination from surrounding urban and rural land into waterways. We encourage people to wait two days after heavy rain before swimming again," says Ms Greenfield.

"Unfortunately Wellington also contained some of the worst sites in the region such as Island Bay and Owhiro Bay. Our previous investigations have identified human sewage as a source of contamination but improvements have been or are being made to sewer and storm water infrastructure in these areas," says Ms Greenfield.

We'll be starting our upcoming summer monitoring programme in December. We'll keep the community continually informed of water quality so they can get out and enjoy their recreational activities safely.

Get copies of our 2015/2016 report cards.

ENDS

Media contact:

021 914 266 or comms@gw.govt.nz