Largs Bay is a relatively sheltered beach that is popular for
recreation during the warmer months. The surrounding land is urbanised
and the beach is quite close to the Port River mouth, the wharves
and commercial shipping lanes at Outer Harbor. Largs Bay may also
be affected by the Bolivar wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and
heavy industries in the Port River. >>
More
>> More on Adelaide's metropolitan
beaches
Water quality at Largs Bay is assessed as being in good, moderate
or poor condition by interpreting water chemistry and algal
data. >> More
Water quality classification for April to September 2006
|
Indicator
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poor
|
NA
|
Good
|
|
|
Good
|
NA
|
NA
|
|
|
Good
|
NA
|
NA
|
|
|
Good
|
NA
|
NA
|
|
|
Good
|
Good
|
NA
|
|
|
Poor
|
NA
|
NA
|
|
|
Poor
|
NA
|
Good
|
|
|
NA
|
Good
|
NA
|
Notes NA = not applicable
The water quality monitoring results for this period were generally
consistent with previous seasonal results for this site.
Ammonia and chlorophyll (a) were classified as poor at Largs
Bay. This is most likely due to nutrient-rich discharges from
the Bolivar WWTP and urban stormwater. Increased nutrients promote
algal growth, particularly during the warmer months.
Heavy metals were classified as poor (copper). The source of
the elevated heavy metals is most likely general urban runoff
(stormwater) washing off roads and galvanised iron roofs into
the marine environments during rain events. In July 2006, a new
analytical method for heavy metals was introduced, which can detect
metals at much lower concentrations in seawater than before. It
is now possible to confidently compare concentrations to National
Water Quality Guidelines for marine waters.
>> Archived results
