Water quality a tap away

Water quality results for popular beach and freshwater swim spots will be recorded on the online Safeswim platform over summer.

Safeswim gives real-time updates on conditions at dozens of popular swimming spots across Taitokerau including two locations in Piroa Falls, Te Arai, Mangawhai, Langs Beach, Waipu Cove and Uretiti.

It also offers a three-day forecast covering water quality, tides, weather and whether lifeguards are on duty and is available as an app.

The water quality monitoring the Northland Regional Council undertakes year-round contributes to the data that Safeswim uses to provide water quality predictions.

NRC group manager – environmental services Ruben Wylie says occasionally some of our swimming spots will have issues with water quality, particularly following heavy rainfall. “With Safeswim, you can check live information on water quality at popular swimming sites and make an informed decision as to whether to swim or not,” he said.

“Safeswim uses a combination of predictive models, monitoring and manual reporting to provide real-time information on water quality conditions, which are updated at least every 15 minutes.”

Find Safeswim at https://safeswim.org.nz/