Victor Harbor

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Introduction

Victor Harbor is approximately 70 km south of Adelaide and is a popular beach in the southern suburbs, especially during peak holiday periods. The surrounding land use is light urban and rural. Victor Harbor beach is close to the Inman and Hindmarsh Rivers and also numerous small stormwater drains, all of which can affect water quality. >> More

Water quality assessment

Water quality at Victor Harbor 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	Good	NA	Good
Oxidised Nitrogen	Good	NA	NA
Total Nitrogen	Good	NA	NA
Total Phosphorus	Good	NA	NA
Turbidity	Good	Good	NA
Chlorophyll (a)	Moderate	NA	NA
Heavy Metals	Moderate	NA	Good
Bacteria	NA	Good	NA

NA = not applicable

The water quality monitoring results for this period were generally consistent with, or lower than previous seasonal results for this site.

Chlorophyll (a) was elevated during this reporting period and classified as moderate. This is most likely due to nutrient-rich discharges from being washed off catchments around Victor Harbor during storms. Increased nutrients promote algal growth, particularly during the warmer months.

Heavy metals were classified as moderate (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 Victor Harbor
  
• Oxidised Nitrogen at Victor Harbor
  
• Total Nitrogen at Victor Harbor
  
• Total Phosphorus at Victor Harbor
  
• Turbidity at Victor Harbor
  
• Chlorophyll (a) at Victor Harbor
  
• Cadmium at Victor Harbor
  
• Copper at Victor Harbor
  
• Mercury at Victor Harbor
  
• Lead at Victor Harbor
• Nickel at Victor Harbor
  
• Zinc at Victor Harbor
  
• Enterococci at Victor Harbor

Download water quality data

• Water Quality at Victor Harbor

Is the water quality at Victor Harbor safe to swim?

The EPA provides a monthly update (fortnightly in summer) on beach water quality. >> More

What is being done to improve the condition of Victor Harbor?

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. The study will hopefully answer the main questions we have about coastal waters including how best to focus our attention and money to ensure the ecosystems are protected and given a chance to recover.

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 22-04-2008