Recreational water quality | Redland City Council

Recreational water quality

Swimming and recreational water sports are popular and safe activities in the Redlands Coast.

To make sure our waterways remain safe to use, we proactively test water samples for microbes and elevated levels of enterococci bacteria. The monitoring is conducted regularly throughout the year at a number of locations across the Redlands Coast.

Council's Recreational Water Monitoring Sites

North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah)

  • Amity Point (Pulan), Picnic Park
  • Main Beach, Point Lookout (Mulumba)
  • Cylinder Beach, Point Lookout (Mulumba)

Southern Moreton Bay Islands:

  • Coochiemudlo Island Foreshore Park (Goochiemudlo)
  • Pats Park, Macleay Island (Jencoomercha)
  • Karragarra Island Foreshore Park
  • Russell Island (Canaipa)

Redlands Mainland:

  • Beth Boyd Park, Queens Esplanade
  • Wellington Point Reserve
  • Raby Bay Foreshore Park, Masthead Drive
  • Les Moore Park, Wilson Esplanade
  • Thompsons Beach, Victoria Point
  • Wilsons Beach, Victoria Point

Managing health risks associated with recreational water

When enjoying waterways on Redlands Coast it’s important to be aware of water quality issues. Sometimes certain activities may not be recommended as they could pose a health risk.

Because waterways are influenced by activities occurring within their catchments, some activities can result in different types of pollution entering waterways. One particular pollution type which is of relevance to recreational waterway users, is enterococci bacterial pollution. There is a strong link between rainfall events and the health of our waterways. With heavy rainfall, harmful microbes have an increased likelihood of being transported into our waterways from the catchment. Summer storms and sudden downpours can lead to increased run-off across our streets, parks and catchments, resulting in an increase in enterococci bacteria contamination of our waterways.

To protect your public health Council always recommends that you avoid contact with waterways during and after heavy rainfall. 

Redland City Council monitors the water quality at a number of popular beaches within the City. In an effort to keep the community informed about any changes in bacterial levels a traffic light system is used, to allow the public to make informed decisions.

It should be noted that Council are unable to obtain on the spot results for bacteria levels or know what levels are present at all times. The results from monitoring conducted only indicate the levels present at the time the samples were taken. Water samples take 48 hours for laboratory analysis. By the time results are known the bacterial levels may have changed.

Where we identify that a recreational water body contains elevated levels of enterococci bacteria we may:

  • close the site temporarily
  • warn the community via temporary signage
  • inform the community through our main website and media releases 
  • continue to monitor the site until it is safe to swim.

The below interactive google my maps will display a site as red if temporary closed due to unsafe enterococci bacteria levels, orange if monitoring results show a once off elevated level requiring daily monitoring and green if the latest monitoring levels are safe.

There are two types of recreation in our waterways – primary contact is any activity where the whole body or face is frequently immersed in water, while secondary contact refers to activities where only the limbs are regularly wet and ingesting water is unlikely.

Monitoring Results

Check out the latest monitoring results by enlarging the map and searching for a selected site.

  Safe for primary contact activities. Monitoring results show bacterial levels are low - enterococci bacteria levels are below 200 CFUs/100ml.

   Caution should be taken engaging in primary contact activities at this site. Monitoring results show bacterial levels are high – enterococci bacteria levels are above 200 CFUs/100ml.

  Closed – not suitable for recreational purposes until further notice. It's advised to avoid contact with the water at this time. Monitoring results show bacterial levels continue to be high – enterococci bacteria levels remain above 200 CFUs/100ml.  

 

Temporary Warning Signage

If Council's Recreational Water Quality Monitoring Program confirms high levels of bacteria in recreational waters, temporary warning signage will be placed at the affected beaches, to help keep the community informed.

These plastic signs state 'WARNING DO NOT SWIM - Potentially high levels of bacteria in these waters may pose a risk to human health'. Once subsequent testing has confirmed that the recreational water sites have returned to safe and acceptable levels, the signage will be removed.

The National Guideline for Managing Risks in Recreational Waters is used to manage the risks associated with recreational water and to determine when temporary signage should be installed or removed.