Refrain from swimming at Pasir Ris beach: NEA

Yahoo! Singapore (September 7, 2010) -

The National Environment Agency (NEA) is advising the public to refrain from swimming at Pasir Ris beach after issuing its annual water quality review of Singapore’s six recreational beaches.

In its latest water quality assessment at Singapore’s beaches, Pasir Ris beach was given a ‘fair’ grade under the more stringent World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines while Sentosa Island, Seletar Island, Sembawang Park, Changi and East Coast Park were graded ‘very good’ or ‘good’ for primary contact activities.

The latest grading for Pasir Ris beach found 7% of the collected samples had enterococcus counts greater than 200 per 100 ml, compared to 8% in 2009. Enterococcus is a type of bacteria found in human and animal faeces.

Pasir Ris beach has been rated unsuitable for water activities since 2008 as the water quality is affected by various possible sources, including minor leakage from older sewers, moored vessels, animals and discharges from small-scale sewage treatment plants (STPs) in remote areas of Pasir Ris.

In a statement released by NEA on Tuesday, it advised the public from swimming at Pasir Ris beach until the next review in August 2011.

Some beach-goers Yahoo! Singapore spoke to were surprised by the findings.

Said undergraduate Steven Chin, 24, “I never expected Paris Ris to be deemed as unsafe for swimming because it looks fine from the shore.”

Beauty consultant Suzanne Luah, 27, agreed. She said, “I never thought our beaches are not safe because I still see people swimming at Pasir Ris.”

Civil servant Mohd. Yazid, 31, hopes NEA will help make the beach safe for activities. He said, “It’s a pity that we have such a nice beach here and we can’t enjoy it, but I think safety is very important and hopefully the green light will soon be given by the authorities for us to swim there.”

To help improve the water quality at Pasir Ris beach, the Public Utilities Board (PUB) has an ongoing plan to extend the sewer network and phase out the 39 STPs in the Halus/Tampines, Changi and Selerang areas by 2012.

Under PUB’s ongoing sewer rehabilitation programme for aging sewers in the area, 23km of sewers will be rehabilitated by 2011.

NEA added that it will continue to closely monitor the water quality at Pasir Ris beach and inform the public of the updated beach gradings in their next annual review.

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Reflections:

I do think that Singapore's sewage systems have to be reviewed because of their age. Although PUB has taken efforts to construct new sewage systems, these do not necessarily prove to be effective. Instead of spending more money on sewage systems, PUB definitely has to review the condition of sewage systems. The problem of large amounts of Enterococcus bacteria present in the Pasir Ris beach has to be eradicated immediately. These bacteria might pose a threat not only to humans but other lifeforms around the area. Enterococcus bacteria have been known to cause life-threatening infections in nosocomial environments. Although they might not necessarily be posing a huge threat, the knowledge of how microscopic organisms can cause problems will be a factor in fighting against them. Hopefully, scientists can develop more methods to remove bacteria present in water. This will be the key to reducing waterborne diseases in poor countries.