By Celsias
Posted on Oct. 18, 2012. Listed in:
More than half of monitored recreational sites on our rivers are unsafe for swimming, according to the
The Ministry for the Environment's latest report card .
So just when you were thinking about your summer break and that river you wanted to show your kids, think on .
Water quality was poor or very poor at 52 per cent of monitored river sites.
A further 28 per cent were graded "fair" - and this meant there was a risk of illness for those swimming there.
Only 20 per cent of monitored river recreation sites were graded good or very good.
Health effects from swallowing water tainted with faecal micro-organisms or other bacteria are not things that sound good.Vomiting, eye , nose, ear and throat infections and diarrhoea . And those most at risk are children.
The Ministry for the Environment sampled water from 210 freshwater beaches, including lakeside areas, and 248 coastal beaches used for recreational swimming.
River sites came off worst.
Eighteen per cent of coastal beaches were graded as "very good" and a further 42 per cent as good.
Worst regions for water quality in rivers were Northland, Taranaki, Southland, Bay of Plenty and Marlborough
