The Northland Regional Council (NRC) will once again use the online Safeswim platform to deliver water quality results for popular beach and freshwater swim spots over summer.

Safeswim gives you real-time updates on conditions at dozens of popular swimming spots across Taitokerau.

It also offers a three-day forecast covering water quality, tides, weather and whether lifeguards are on duty and it’s now available as an app, so you can download and decide with Safeswim this summer.

The water quality monitoring the Northland Regional Council undertakes year-round contributes to the data that Safeswim uses to provide water quality predictions.

This means you can check with Safeswim whether there’s any risk from swimming at your favourite swim spot.

Ruben Wylie, council’s Group Manager - Environmental Services, explains that the council has been involved with Safeswim since 2022, as a partnership between Auckland Council, NRC, Surf Life Saving New Zealand and other organisations.

Mr Wylie says occasionally some of our swimming spots will have issues with water quality, particularly following heavy rainfall. With Safeswim, you can check live information on water quality at popular swimming sites and make an informed decision as to whether to swim or not.

"Safeswim uses a combination of predictive models, monitoring and manual reporting to provide real-time information on water quality conditions at popular swimming locations".

The models use real-time data on rainfall, wind, and other environmental factors to simulate water quality at each individual beach. The water quality predictions on Safeswim are updated at least every 15 minutes.

Safeswim now has an app, that’s available on the App Store and Google Play, so you can download and dive in. Pick a favourite swimming spot in Taitokerau and check out the water quality, tide times, whether the beach is lifeguarded, or other hazards like jellyfish.

Download the Safeswim app and decide with Safeswim today: https://safeswim.org.nz/download-app

Find Safeswim: https://safeswim.org.nz/

To find out more about NRC’s water quality monitoring: https://www.nrc.govt.nz/living-in-northland/at-the-beach/swimming-water-quality/

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