Buller River at Marrs Beach

Marrs Beach is a small sandy and cobbly beach located on the southern side of the Buller River in Westport, downstream of the town. The beach is accessed via an unpaved road off Schadick Ave/Tiphead Road at Carters Beach. The beach provides an excellent location for swimming and walking when the conditions are suitable. This site can sometimes have elevated levels of E. coli following rainfall events. The West Coast Regional Council recommends people avoid swimming after heavy rain.

The West Coast Regional Council monitors the water quality of Buller River at Marrs Beach weekly November to March.

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Water Quality

Passed water quality tests 60-95% of the time
Historical Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on March 27th, 2023. The Swim Guide - New Zealand updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on March 27th, 2023 at 9:10 PM.

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Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

West Coast Regional Council monitors water quality at popular swimming spots throughout the West Coast region.
Water quality data on Swim Guide is sourced from the LAWA Can I Swim Here? website. www.lawa.org.nz/swim

At this site, water is regularly tested for levels of E. coli during the summer months. This faecal indicator bacteria is used to indicate the level of harmful pathogens in the water.

See information on recreational water quality monitoring in New Zealand in the LAWA factsheet.

Beach sites are shown as a GREEN swim icon if the latest E. coli test result was in the range of 0 - 550 E. coli / 100 mL.

Beach sites are shown as a RED swim icon if the latest test result exceeded 550 E. coli / 100 mL or if this site frequently exceeds the standard or there is a temporary water quality issue outside the routine testing programme (e.g. sewage overflow).

See information on the standards for recreational water quality monitoring in New Zealand in the 'What do the swim icons mean?' LAWA factsheet.

LAWA recommends for all sites, to avoid swimming for 2 - 3 days after significant rain, even for sites that normally have good water quality.

A good rule of thumb is to check that you can see your toes in knee deep water.

See www.lawa.org.nz/swim for up to date information on current warnings and alerts, weather conditions, real-time water temperature and flow rates, and what facilities are available, the monitoring history at this site and helpful factsheets.

Water Quality Graph