Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Popular swimming spots pass test

By Staff Reporter
Whanganui Chronicle·
17 Jul, 2016 09:49 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

SWEET SPOT: Most of the region's coastal swimming sites were safe to swim for the entire summer, reports the Horizons Regional Council.

SWEET SPOT: Most of the region's coastal swimming sites were safe to swim for the entire summer, reports the Horizons Regional Council.

Popular swim spots in the region were swimmable for the majority of last summer, Horizons Regional Council reports.

Horizons conducts weekly water quality monitoring at 26 popular swimming spots from November to April every year. The results of this monitoring were reported at the council's June environment committee meeting.

The term "swimmable" is determined by a number of factors, such as bacteria levels, whether cyanobacteria are present, and flow, Horizons group manager natural resources and partnerships Dr Jon Roygard said.

"It's not as simple as making a general comment that a river is swimmable or not - what we are really looking at is how often it is safe to swim," he said.

"From a Ministry of Health point of view, if the site has under 550 E.coli per 100ml then it should be swimmable.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We are pleased to report that most of the region's coastal swimming sites were safe to swim for the entire summer."

Neither of the exceptions, Hokio and Waikawa beach, were near Whanganui.

Popular freshwater spots also recorded well.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Dr Roygard said the portion of time that swim spots were not suitable for swimming was due to rainfall and high flows.

"During high rainfall bacteria and sediment naturally washes from the land into our river systems. This results in high flows which makes some sites potentially dangerous, and people wouldn't likely choose to swim during this time.

"The good news is that during the warmer and drier months our reporting shows swimming spots are often well within the Ministry of Health's swimmable standards."

The monitoring programme also provides the council with robust information on where E.coli levels are high in the region and where they can focus their efforts.

"We realise there is always room for improvement."

Work is also under way through initiatives such as the Sustainable Land Use Initiative to improve water quality and reduce sediment run-off.

"A key focus of this work has been improving suitability for swimming by reducing the amount of bacteria getting into the river from discharges and completing stream fencing," Dr Roygard said.

-The report is available for viewing at the council's website, horizons.govt.nz

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Chaos as Ruapehu council rejects officials' advice on water

10 Jul 03:15 AM
Whanganui Chronicle

Strong winds bring weather warning and watches

10 Jul 03:00 AM
Whanganui Chronicle

'Values-led' construction company takes top prize at Māori Business Awards

10 Jul 01:00 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Chaos as Ruapehu council rejects officials' advice on water

Chaos as Ruapehu council rejects officials' advice on water

10 Jul 03:15 AM

The officials' recommendation was estimated to save the community $40 million.

Strong winds bring weather warning and watches

Strong winds bring weather warning and watches

10 Jul 03:00 AM
'Values-led' construction company takes top prize at Māori Business Awards

'Values-led' construction company takes top prize at Māori Business Awards

10 Jul 01:00 AM
Whanganui missing child safe and well

Whanganui missing child safe and well

10 Jul 12:05 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP