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The quality of ocean water at Sydney’s beaches has deteriorated over the past year with a NSW Government report showing a rise in contaminants include faecal material from animal and human sources.

Issued by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, the Beachwatch/State of the Beaches 2015/16 (Sydney region) report found water quality had deteriorated across all three Sydney areas - north, central and south - with rainfall events the main factor.

Severe thunderstorms in November and December last year, and the wettest January in 28 years the following month contributed to the drop in quality.

The report advised "rainfall is the major driver of pollution to recreational waters, generating stormwater runoff and triggering discharges from the wastewater treatment and transport systems.”

While Coogee and Malabar in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs were among 11 beaches in the region to warrant a ‘poor’ rating for water quality, between 83% and 88% of 96 sites around the city had good or very good ratings.

While 94% of dry weather samples at Coogee were within the safe swimming limits, levels of enterococci bacteria frequently exceeded those levels with just five millimetres or more of rain.

For Malabar, the poor rating cames despite "significant improvements" since 2012/13 "due to the diversion of the large stormwater drain at the northern end of the beach".

The report added that only 76% of samples taken during dry weather were within the safe swimming limit.

Sydney Water Strategy Manager Rodd Kerr advised “due to its topography Malabar beach takes longer to recover from stormwater events than surrounding areas.

"Lower levels of flushing increase the time needed to disperse and dilute pollution inputs."

Coogee and Malabar were the only ocean beaches among the 10 ‘poor’ ranked sites, with the other eight all estuarine.

Foreshores Beach in Botany Bay was again the only swimming spot to be rated ‘very poor’.

Here the report noted "microbial water quality (at Foreshores Beach) is highly influenced by faecal pollution, particularly after rainfall, and is very susceptible to faecal contamination from the sewage overflows which discharge into Mill Pond Creek.”

The other beaches ranked as poor were at Narrabeen Lagoon, Bilarong Reserve, Bayview Baths and Barrenjoey Beach in the northern region, Davidson Reserve in the Sydney Harbour region, and the southern swimming sites at Yarra Bay, Gymea Bay Baths, and Gunnamatta Bay Baths, the report says.

Kerr suggested that having 85 beaches reported as having good or very good quality water was "a great result and testament to to the resilience of our beaches despite the intense rainfall."

Bacteria found in tests were from all warm-blooded animals, including pets, native animals and birds.

Sydney Water, which has spent $1.8 billion since 2000, will outlay another $129 million in 2016/17 to improve wastewater controls.

The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage issues Beachwatch/State of the Beaches reports for six coastal regions in NSW.

Click here for more information.

Images: Coogee Beach (top), paddle boarding in Narrabeen Lagoon (middle) and the Beachwatch/State of the Beaches 2015/16 (Sydney region) report (below).

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