Want to discover a totally new swimming location in Sydney this long weekend? Well, grab your cossies, because the City of Ryde has just launched a new swim spot at Putney Park on the Parramatta River.

 

As of Wednesday, Putney Beach is open to the public, marking another significant milestone in the ongoing project to open up more of the Parramatta River to local swimmers. The project involved adding sandstone stairs, upgrades to the seawall, and swim site enclosure infrastructure. Putney Beach is the third swim spot to open along the Parramatta River in less than four years, including Bayview Park in Concord and McIlwaine Park in Rhodes East, and is part of the Parramatta River Master Plan.

The opening was funded by the NSW State Government’s Places to Swim grant, an initiative focused on improving public access to natural waterways and introducing new places to swim, kayak, paddleboard, and walk near the water, so people can enjoy rivers, lakes, dams, and harbours.

 

Artist’s impression of Putney Beach

Is it safe to swim?

Sydney Water and local councils have been working to test water quality at the site since 2019, in an effort to monitor the risk of contamination or overflow of waste to the swimming location.

Dr Ian Wright, associate professor in the School of Science at Western Sydney University told ABC News that Sydney Water and local councils have made ‘admirable’ efforts to monitor water quality.

‘They’ve assessed the risk, they’ve assessed the chemicals, and water quality is at safe levels for recreation, and that’s part of the testing they’ve done and the due diligence to make sure that it is safe for people to swim at this site’, he said.

While the water quality is generally safe, a Sydney Water spokesperson told ABC News that it’s best practice to avoid swimming for three days after any rain in the river swimming spots.

Happy swimming!

 

Feature photo by City of Ryde

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