EPA ranks Geelong beaches among the best

EPA Victoria's Beach Report provides updates twice each day on water quality at Port Phillip Bay's beaches. Photo: ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION AUTHORITY VICTORIA/FACEBOOK

THREE beaches on the Bellarine were in the top five and another in Geelong was in the top 15 for water quality this summer, according to Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Victoria.

The Beach Report provides updates twice each day on water quality at Port Phillip Bay’s beaches, and the authority last week compiled a list of those beaches that performed the best based on the number of Good, Fair and Poor forecasts it received.

Santa Casa beach in Queenscliff was top of the list, with Portarlington and St Leonards beaches both in equal fourth.

Eastern Beach on the Geelong Waterfront was further back but still ranked a respectable 13th.

St Kilda was the worst beach, ranked 36th, and Mentone and Port Melbourne shared 34th place.

“The data shows that the beaches the farthest from the city faired the best, as demonstrated by Santa Casa on the Bellarine Peninsula and Portsea on the Mornington Peninsula coming first and second,” EPA chief environmental scientist Professor Mark Taylor said.

“Summer got off to a rocky start in the first two weeks of December.”

“Wet weather always impacts water quality in the bay with our stormwater drains, creeks and rivers collecting pollutants that eventually find their way out to sea.”

He said water quality met swimming and recreational use standards for nearly 90 percent of the time.

“Water quality in the bay is usually pretty good, especially when you consider how highly urbanised most of the area surrounding it is.”

Heavy rain washes pollutants from streets and footpaths through the stormwater drain system creeks and waterways, ultimately ending up in the bay, but over time this pollution dilutes and water quality improves.

Professor Taylor said people could also do their bit to keep the water and beaches clean by leaving the beach with everything they took down and making sure they never let anything but rainwater go down stormwater drains.

For the latest Beach Report, head to epa.vic.gov.au/for-community/summer-water-quality/beach-report