State Government of Victoria

The good news about Melbourne’s beaches is that the water quality tends to be good right through summer - the bad news is that there are some days when you shouldn’t swim at your local beach.

Port Phillip Bay’s top ranking beach for water quality this summer was Santa Casa, with Eastern,

The Dell, Portarlington, Black Rock, Hampton, Portsea, Rosebud and Sandringham not far behind.

Bottom of the scale was Brighton, where EPA warned the public to be aware of conditions after a sewage leak in a nearby street triggered poor water quality for seven days in a row.

Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) Chief Environmental Scientist Dr Andrea Hinwood says that overall the quality is fairly even across locations, and the few days a year when EPA recommends you bypass your local beach are often predictable and due to major rain events.

“Anyone signed up for our SMS service or visiting the www.yarraandbay.vic.gov.au website would have seen the connection between any large rain event and forecasts of a couple of days of poor water quality,” Dr Hinwood said.

“Whatever contaminants wash off the streets of Melbourne in a rain storm wind up in the bay, bringing with them the risks of infections, stomach upsets and skin irritation,” she said.

Common contaminants that wash into the bay include; animal droppings, litter, plastics, cigarette butts and detergents.

“There are several things you can do about that: don’t litter, be careful what you allow to wash into the gutters and stormwater drains in your street, and check the Yarra and Bay website before you hit the beach.”

One other common cause of poor water quality is algae, which occurs naturally in the bay and varies according to conditions.

EPA’s Yarra and Bay website provides twice a day forecasts of Good, Fair or Poor water quality the following day, giving swimmers information that can save them from potentially harmful water borne diseases.

“We advise people to avoid swimming near stormwater or river outlets for 24 to 48 hours after heavy rain, because that’s when animal droppings and other contaminants are washed into the bay from beaches and streets,” Dr Hinwood said.

“And of course, every dog owner who cleans up after their four-legged friend is doing their bit to keep the bay in good shape,” she said.

Beach Report season will reopen for next summer on 1 December 2019.  You can check EPA’s forecasts for water quality at Melbourne’s favourite swimming spots by visiting the Yarra and Bay website, at www.yarraandbay.vic.gov.au 

EPA updates the website twice daily through summer, tweets the forecasts twice daily (@EPA_Victoria), and sends over 100,000 SMS alerts to more than 10,000 registered users.  Water quality ratings are also displayed during weekends and public holidays at 28 Life Saving Victoria clubs.

Beach rankings around Port Phillip Bay through Summer 2018/19