Can I swim?

River, stream, and beach water quality including wastewater overflows

Taranaki Regional Council monitor bacteria levels at popular swimming and fishing sites. The monitored sites in New Plymouth District are shown below (to view all sites in Taranaki visit trc.govt.nz). TRC take samples on set days and therefore high counts could be due to heavy rain in the days before sampling.  Heavy rain flushes contaminants from urban and rural land into waterways and it is advisable not to swim for at least three days after heavy or prolonged rainfall – even if a site generally has good water quality.

The map also shows any wastewater overflows and warnings, and you can find more information about wastewater overflows in the table below the map.  

Please note that MPI also issue toxic shellfish warnings, you can view them here.