Sam Gilbert, environmental monitoring officer at the Northland Regional Council, checks out Paihia’s water quality on the Safeswim website.
Sam Gilbert, environmental monitoring officer at the Northland Regional Council, checks out Paihia’s water quality on the Safeswim website.
A new water quality advice system for popular summer beaches and freshwater swim spots is being rolled out by Northland Regional Council (NRC) this December.
The shift to Safeswim comes after six popular Northland sites were added to it in a low-key trial last summer, said NRC coastal and water quality field operations manager, Ricky Eyre.
Previously, the council collected weekly water quality samples at popular swim sites throughout Northland over the summer.
“As well as being very labour intensive, due to the time limitations of sample analysis, management options are always retrospective, and there is no consideration of changes in environmental conditions like rainy weather, which can impact water quality,” Eyre said.
The new system uses historical results with environmental drivers, like rainfall, to provide ‘real-time and near-future swim ability predictions’.
Information on 50 coastal and 20 freshwater sites popular with swimmers and other recreational water users over the warmer months are available via the Safeswim website, with the new Northland sites added from December. Results will also be posted on the ‘Can I Swim Here?’ section of the national environmental reporting website, LAWA.
“Among a host of potential benefits are: improved knowledge of water quality at swimming sites, improving public understanding of potential health risks, and providing real-time/forecasted water quality year-round.”
The system uses a series of different coloured pins/droplets to illustrate the advisability of swimming and other forms of contact with water.
When water quality is predicted to exceed national guidelines, Safeswim will display a red water droplet, indicating a high risk of illness from swimming.
Ocean Beach, at Whangārei Heads, is one of the 70 popular Northland swimming spots added to the Safeswim website this summer.
“Essentially, it means that levels of bacteria indicate that more than 1 in 50 people are likely to become ill after putting their head underwater.”
A black pin on Safeswim indicates that the swim spot has been affected by a confirmed wastewater overflow, and authorities ‘strongly advise’ against swimming as the risk is higher than normal.
For most healthy people, water that meets national guidelines indicated by a green droplet will pose a minimal level of risk.
“However, water below the guideline values may pose a potential health risk to high-risk user groups such as the very young, the elderly and those with impaired immune systems,” said Eyre.
“Safeswim also provides information on tides, physical hazards and lifeguard patrols, where appropriate, providing a ‘one-stop shop’ for users to make informed decisions on where to swim before heading off.”
Eyre said despite the move to Safeswim, the regional council will continue to take water samples throughout the year to ‘ground-truth’ the model, and new monitoring sites will be added to the Safeswim platform over the next year.
