The National Council for Scientific Research held a conference on Wednesday to announce their results of the state of the seawater along the coast of Lebanon.
Based on the level of fecal bacteria, they found that 8 beaches were highly polluted and not suitable for swimming.
The NCSR researched 31 beaches from Akkar in the north to Naqoura in the south.
In Beirut, the beaches of Ramlet el-Baida and Manara were considered very contaminated with high levels of fecal bacteria.
Based on their research, the seawater at the North Dbayeh Marina (the port) and the seawater near the Antelias estuary were also marked highly polluted.
Up north, in El-Mina, Tripoli the water near the port and Abdel-Wahab Island as well as the public sandy beach are too polluted to swim in, although not many residents swim there anyway.
In addition, further north, the beach near the airport in Kleiat in Akkar was also classified as unsuitable for swimming.
Finally, the seawater in Selaata, although not heavily polluted with fecal bacteria, is hazardous to swim in because of its close proximity to a chemical plant, which means it could contain chemical pollutants, hence the NCSR marked it unsafe.
Around 6 beaches were listed as borderline dangerous. While the seawater in these areas is in a critical state, according to NCSR, one may proceed to swim there but with caution.
These locations are the beach in Anfeh, the public beach in Amchit, below the bridge at Fidar, the public beach in Jounieh, near the stadium at Saida, and finally the public beach in Sarafand.
On the bright side, 17 of the 31 beaches were marked safe. These include the rocky beach near the new fishing port in Beirut, the waters of Damour, Jiyeh (Pangea beach), Rmeileh (Havana beach), Awali, the Tyre reserve, and Naqoura all the way south.
North of Beirut, the clean and safe beaches are Maameltein (Tamari Beach), Safra, Bouar, Okaybeh, Jbeil, Batroun, Heri (Chekka), Tripoli (after the sports stadium), and the private Beach at Miniyeh.
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