Safeswim website revamped and relaunched

North Shore City Council's Safeswim website, accessed via the council's main website http://www.northshorecity.govt.nz, has been revamped to provide beach-goers with easy access to the latest beach water quality information in time for summer.

The new Safeswim website is a one-stop-shop providing daily beach water quality information including any pollution or wastewater events as well as water quality results from the council's weekly monitoring of 27 North Shore City beaches.

Environmental programmes coordinator, Trish Kirkland-Smith, says the Safeswim website gives people the most recent beach water quality information available to the council, and has a number of new features.

"In addition to 0800Safeswim (0800 723379), beach-goers now have the option of using the website to search for a particular beach and find out how safe the water is before they leave home. The website also provides a new indicator system with information about the most likely cause of beach water pollution as well as historical information, which could be of particular interest to students involved in environmental studies," Ms Kirkland-Smith says.

"There is also a news page that features the latest media releases on beach water quality as well as other information like natural phenomena such as algal blooms or sea lice. Seasonal summary reports are also available on-line."

North Shore City's works and environment committee chairperson, Joel Cayford, says the new look Safeswim website ensures people have access to easy to understand, up-to-date beach water quality information.

"In the past there has been some confusion about how beach water quality is measured, what the results mean in terms of safety and the national health guidelines set by the Ministry for the Environment as well as the likely causes of pollution events. The new Safeswim website will help people understand that we don't close beaches, but rather provide them with details so they can make informed decisions,"Councillor Cayford says.

"Beach water quality has been a top priority at North Shore City Council since we committed to Project CARE, our 20-year works programme to improve beach water quality by reducing wet weather sewage overflows. The new Safeswim website is another facet of this commitment and with all the other information available on our website, provides people with a comprehensive information package about beach water quality and what we're doing to improve it."

The Safeswim website can be accessed via the North Shore City Council's website www.northshorecity.govt.nz under 'Our Environment' on the left-hand menu. The council's toll-free number, 0800 SAFESWIM (0800 723379), continues to be available to all callers and will draw on information on the Safeswim website.

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