Water quality guidelines
Results are compared to the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) and Ministry of Health (MoH) Microbiological Water Quality Guidelines.
|
Freshwater Sites |
Coastal Sites | ||
|
UNSAFE |
>550 E.coli/100ml |
UNSAFE |
>280 Enterococci/100ml |
|
CAUTION |
260-550 E.coli/100ml |
CAUTION |
140-280 Enterococci/100ml |
|
SAFE |
<260 E.coli/100ml |
SAFE |
<140 Enterococci/100ml |
Freshwater samples are graded according to the number of E. coli bacteria present and coastal samples according to the number of Enterococci bacteria present. At the end of the sampling season each site is also given an overall score based on the number of samples that complied with the guidelines during the monitoring period.