Popular lake and beach swimming spots are tested weekly from November through to April as part of Council’s recreational water quality monitoring program. This program is being run in partnership with the Office of Environment and Heritage’s (OEH) Beachwatch program.
Council samples one beach and 13 lake sites and Hunter Water sample another five beach sites for Enterococci bacteria.
The presence of Enterococci indicates that water may be polluted with stormwater or sewage, and Enterococci levels above 100 organisms/100mL indicate that water may be unsuitable for swimming.