Port Noarlunga Beach

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Introduction

Port Noarlunga Beach is approximately 25 km south of Adelaide and is a popular southern beach. The surrounding land has areas of urbanisation, and some rural regions. Port Noarlunga beach is close to the Onkaparinga River mouth, the Christies Beach wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and numerous small stormwater drains, all of which can affect water quality.>> More

>> More on Adelaide's metropolitan beaches

Water quality assessment

Water quality at Port Noarlunga jetty 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	Ecosystem	Recreation	Aquaculture
Ammonia	Poor	NA	Good
Oxidised Nitrogen	Good	NA	NA
Total Nitrogen	Good	NA	NA
Total Phosphorus	Good	NA	NA
Turbidity	Good	Good	NA
Chlorophyll (a)	Good	NA	NA
Heavy Metals	Poor	NA	Good
Bacteria	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 was classified as poor at Port Noarlunga. This is most likely due to nutrient-rich discharges from the Glenelg WWTP local urban stormwater and from the Onkaparinga River. Increased nutrients promote algal growth, particularly during the warmer months. The chlorophyll(a) levels have been elevated in the past, indicating that excess algal growth has been occurring.

Heavy metals were classified as poor (copper and zinc). 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

Download water quality graphs

• Ammonia at Port Noarlunga
  
• Oxidised Nitrogen at Port Noarlunga
  
• Total Nitrogen at Port Noarlunga
  
• Total Phosphorus at Port Noarlunga
  
• Turbidity at Port Noarlunga
  
• Chlorophyll (a) at Port Noarlunga
  
• Cadmium at Port Noarlunga
  
• Copper at Port Noarlunga
  
• Mercury at Port Noarlunga
  
• Lead at Port Noarlunga
  
• Nickel at Port Noarlunga
  
• Zinc at Port Noarlunga
  
• Enterococci at Port Noarlunga

Download water quality data

• Water Quality at Port Noarlunga

Is the water quality at Port Noarlunga safe to swim?

The EPA provides a monthly update (fortnightly in summer) on beach water quality which details if the water during the past two weeks was safe to swim. >> More

What is being done to improve the condition of Port Noarlunga?

The EPA established the Adelaide Coastal Waters Study in 2001 in response to concerns about the decline in coastal water quality. This study is expected to be completed at the end of 2006 and is designed to answer the main questions we have about coastal waters, including how to rehabilitate marine ecosystems.

Reports

Gulf St Vincent Metropolitan Bathing Waters - Report No 1 (493KB) Nov 1997

Gulf St Vincent Metropolitan Coastal Waters - Report No 2 (1.7MB) Jan 2004

Water Quality of Adelaide's Metropolitan Coastal Waters - a community summary (776KB) (This brochure summarises the Gulf St Vincent Report No. 2)

This page was last modified 31-07-2007