Is it safe to swim in Wellington and the Hutt Valley?
Greater Wellington Regional Council and local councils monitor some of the Wellington region’s most popular beaches and rivers to determine their suitability for recreational activities such as swimming. We monitor eight freshwater and 34 coastal sites In the Wellington and Hutt Valley area. The results from this monitoring are compared to national guidelines and used to calculate an overall grade for each site.
Results from the 2014/15 summer season Most of the swimming spots we monitor in Wellington and the Hutt Valley have good water quality. The best sites are Hutt River at Poets Park, Breaker Bay and Princess Bay which have an overall grade of ‘A’ and met the guideline for safe swimming on all occasions. The worst sites are at Island Bay, Owhiro Bay, Rona Bay, Hutt River at Melling and Wainuiomata River at Richard Prouse Park. These sites have an overall grade of ‘D’ and most recorded high bacterial counts on at least two or more occasions. Cyanobacteria (toxic algae) was a problem in some parts of the Hutt River over the summer. Cyanobacteria cover went over national guideline levels twice at Poets Park and three times at Silverstream.
Very low risk of illness A 7% (3 sites)
Low risk 43% (18 sites) B
Moderate risk 33% (14 sites) C
Caution 17% D (7 sites) Unsuitable for swimming 0%
In the Wellington and Hutt Valley area, 3 sites (7%) are graded ‘A’, 18 sites (43%) are graded ‘B’, 14 sites (33%) are graded ‘C’ and 7 sites (17%) are graded ‘D’.
WAIT TWO DAYS AFTER RAIN before you swim again…
Water quality in Wellington and the Hutt Valley is generally pretty good over the summer, except in poor weather conditions. Heavy rain flushes contaminants from urban and rural land into water and we advise people not to swim for two days after heavy rain – even if a site generally has good water quality.
In Wellington and the Hutt Valley 38 of the 825 samples (5%) taken did not meet the guideline and around 60% of these were associated with rainfall. Is it safe to swim in Wellington and the Hutt Valley?
Weekly sampling results and overall grades for sites in Wellington and the Hutt Valley
2014/15 summer results Overall assessment† Number of Number of Site Name samples exceedances Risk of Overall Most likely contamination source exceeding the associated contamination grade* guideline with rainfall Aotea Lagoon 0 NA Urban stormwater Moderate B Oriental Bay at Freyberg Beach 0 NA Urban stormwater Moderate B Oriental Bay at Wishing Well 0 NA Urban stormwater Moderate B Oriental Bay at Band Rotunda 1 1 Urban stormwater Moderate B Balaena Bay 2 1 Urban stormwater Low B Hataitai Beach 1 1 Urban stormwater Moderate C$ Shark Bay 1 1 Urban stormwater Moderate C Mahanga Bay 0 NA Urban stormwater Low B Scorching Bay 0 NA Urban stormwater Low C Worser Bay 0 NA Urban stormwater Moderate C$ Seatoun Beach at Wharf 0 NA Urban stormwater Moderate C Seatoun Beach at Inglis Street 0 NA Urban stormwater Moderate C Breaker Bay 0 NA Urban stormwater Low A Lyall Bay at Tirangi Road 1 1 Urban stormwater Moderate C Lyall Bay at Onepu Road 1 1 Urban stormwater Moderate B Lyall Bay at Queens Drive 1 1 Urban stormwater Moderate B Princess Bay 0 NA Urban stormwater Low A Island Bay at Reef Street Recreation Ground 1 1 Urban stormwater, potential sewage inputs Moderate D Island Bay at Surf Club 2 1 Urban stormwater, potential sewage inputs Moderate D Island Bay at Derwent Street 0 NA Urban stormwater, potential sewage inputs Moderate D Owhiro Bay 4 3 Urban stormwater, potential sewage inputs Moderate D Wellington Harbour at Taranaki St Dive Platform 1 1 Urban stormwater, potential sewage inputs Insufficient data Petone Beach at Water Ski Club 3 0 Urban stormwater Moderate C Petone Beach at Sydney Street 2 2 Urban stormwater Moderate C Petone Beach at Kiosk 2 1 Urban stormwater Moderate C Sorrento Bay 1 0 Urban stormwater Low C Lowry Bay at Cheviot Road 2 0 Urban stormwater Moderate C York Bay 0 NA Urban stormwater Low B Days Bay at Wellesley College 1 0 Urban stormwater Moderate B Days Bay at Wharf 0 NA Urban stormwater Moderate B Days Bay at Moana Road 0 NA Urban stormwater Moderate B Rona Bay at N end of Cliff Bishop Park 3 1 Urban stormwater Moderate D Rona Bay at Wharf 1 0 Urban stormwater Moderate C Robinson Bay at HW Shortt Rec Ground 0 NA Urban stormwater Moderate B# Robinson Bay at Nikau Street 0 NA Urban stormwater Moderate B Pakuratahi River at Hutt Forks 0 NA Rural land Low B Akatarawa River at Hutt Confluence 1 1 Rural land Low C Hutt River at Birchville 0 NA Urban stormwater and rural land Moderate B Hutt River at Maoribank Corner 0 NA Urban stormwater and rural land Low B Hutt River at Poets Park 0 NA Urban stormwater and rural land Low A Hutt River at Silverstream 1 1 Urban stormwater Moderate B Hutt River at Melling Bridge 3 2 Urban stormwater Moderate D Wainuiomata River at Richard Prouse Park 2 2 Urban stormwater and rural land, potential sewage inputs Moderate D † The overall assessment is based on five years of data.
* Arrows beside the grade denote whether a grade has increased or decreased from the previous season, ie, # means the grade has improved whereas $ means the grade has declined. Grades for freshwater sites are “dry weather” grades.
For more information on our Recreational Water Quality Programme check out www.gw.govt.nz/is-it-safe-to-swim For further detail on the 2014/15 results check out our report “Is it safe to swim?” at www.gw.govt.nz/Annual-monitoring-reports For information on recreational water quality across New Zealand check out www.lawa.org.nz Publication number: GW/ESCI-G-15/36 June 2015