Beachwatch swim sites with pollution forecasts and latest water quality, New South Wales
liveThe Beachwatch public sites feed from the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, one row per monitored swim site. Each site has its Beachwatch ID and name, the pollution forecast with its timestamp, and the latest water quality result with its rating and observation date. Timestamps are kept as the ISO 8601 text the feed gives.
Also called: Beachwatch NSW water quality, Is it safe to swim at my beach NSW, Sydney beach pollution forecast, NSW swim site water quality results.
- What is in each row?
- One swim site that Beachwatch monitors, with its name, the current pollution forecast and when it was issued, the latest water quality result and its rating, the date of that sample, and the site's longitude and latitude.
- How often does it change?
- Beachwatch issues pollution forecasts daily and samples sites on a schedule. This entry is read as a live feed, and each day the feed changes is one version, so earlier days stay here as earlier versions.
- What does forecast not available mean?
- Beachwatch issues a daily forecast only for some sites and seasons. Other sites show forecast not available as published.
Made for agents
Connect your AI agent
Any agent that connects to publicdata.au/mcp can find this dataset, read its 9 fields, count and filter across all 246 rows and diff its versions. Every answer names the version and carries DCCEEW's attribution. No key.
Then ask it: What does Beachwatch swim sites with pollution forecasts and latest water quality, New South Wales hold, and what changed in the newest version?
claude mcp add --transport http publicdata https://publicdata.au/mcpOne command. No key, no account, no sign-up.
Settings, then Connectors, then Add custom connector, and paste https://publicdata.au/mcp.
On the web and in the desktop app.
https://publicdata.au/mcpStreamable HTTP. Cursor, VS Code or any client that connects to a remote MCP server.
Using https://publicdata.au/llms.txt, how many people died on Queensland roads in 2025, by month?For an assistant that reads the web and has no connector.
A dashboard over every row. Click to filter, add panels, share a link or embed a frame.
Query APIFilter and count from a URLaggregate?group=latest_result&metric=count
Swim sites by their latest water quality result: 221 Good, 19 Fair, 3 Poor, 3 Bad.
Download it as Excel, CSV, JSON and 9 more formats
Pick a format and a version. Excel is picked first because it opens in the tools most offices have. The URL is yours to keep. A dated version never changes.
In your own tools
Use it in Excel, R, Python and more
Excel and Power BI read the CSV from its address and refresh from it. The R and Python packages take any dataset on this site by its slug, so a new dataset needs no new release. The DuckDB file attaches read-only over HTTPS, and a query reads only the blocks it touches.
The dated URL in the code never changes. https://publicdata.au/d/nsw-beachwatch-sites/latest/ redirects to the newest version.
https://publicdata.au/d/nsw-beachwatch-sites/latest/data.csvIn Excel choose Data, then From Web, and paste this address. Excel keeps it, so Refresh All reads the newest version. A sheet holds about a million rows; past that, load the query to the Data Model.
https://publicdata.au/d/nsw-beachwatch-sites/latest/data.csvIn Power BI Desktop choose Get data, then Web, paste this address and choose Anonymous when asked how to sign in. A scheduled refresh reads the same address, so the report follows each new version.
library(publicdataau)
df <- pd_read("nsw-beachwatch-sites")
pd_attribution(df)install.packages("publicdataau"). pd_read() fetches the version's Parquet file; pd_rows() and pd_aggregate() ask the query API instead, and pd_connect() attaches the DuckDB file.
import publicdata_au as pd_au
df = pd_au.read("nsw-beachwatch-sites")
df.attrs["publicdata"]["attribution"]pip install "publicdata-au[pandas]". read() fetches the version's Parquet file; rows() and aggregate() ask the query API, and connect() attaches the DuckDB file.
INSTALL httpfs; LOAD httpfs;
ATTACH 'https://publicdata.au/d/nsw-beachwatch-sites/v/2026-10-05/data.duckdb' AS nsw_beachwatch_sites (READ_ONLY);
SELECT id, count(*) FROM nsw_beachwatch_sites.records GROUP BY 1 ORDER BY 2 DESC;The DuckDB file attaches read-only over HTTPS and only the blocks a query touches are read. Parquet works the same way: FROM read_parquet(url).
const res = await fetch("https://publicdata.au/api/v1/datasets/nsw-beachwatch-sites/aggregate?group=latest_result&metric=count");
const { rows, publicdata } = await res.json();
console.log(rows, publicdata.attribution);The query API answers a page on any site as well as Node, with no key. It returns the rows and the attribution the licence asks for.
What is in it
Column names are made snake_case and the publisher's original header is kept beside each one. Blank cells are null. Nothing is added, removed, ranked or summarised.
| Field | Type | Publisher's header | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| id | string | id | |
| site_name | string | siteName | |
| pollution_forecast | string | pollutionForecast | |
| pollution_forecast_timestamp | string | pollutionForecastTimeStamp | ISO 8601 timestamp with its UTC offset, as the feed gives it. |
| latest_result | string | latestResult | |
| latest_result_rating | integer | latestResultRating | Beachwatch's numeric rating for the latest result, as published. |
| latest_result_observation_date | string | latestResultObservationDate | ISO 8601 timestamp with its UTC offset, as the feed gives it. |
| longitude | number | (longitude) | |
| latitude | number | (latitude) |
Download this table as a data dictionary (Excel), or read it as a Frictionless Table Schema at schema.json. The key is id.
A sample of 10 rows
The sites with the worst latest water quality result first, the most recently sampled first within each result. A blank cell is shown as null.
| id | site_name | pollution_forecast | pollution_forecast_timestamp | latest_result | latest_result_rating | latest_result_observation_date | longitude | latitude |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7de64da2-6534-4bd2-a01a-260b1d30e4b5 | Canton Beach | Forecast not available | 2026-10-04T20:33:11.8033333+00:00 | Bad | 1 | 2026-09-28T10:00:00+10:00 | 151.54407 | -33.27253 |
| c8b52a7e-dcb4-4a57-8271-5f5438b507dd | Mannering Park Baths | Forecast not available | 2026-10-04T20:33:11.8033333+00:00 | Bad | 1 | 2026-09-28T10:00:00+10:00 | 151.536858 | -33.143997 |
| 90992928-9137-4736-9a91-bcd5b9c8f53e | Cabbage Tree Bay Rockpool | Forecast not available | 2026-10-04T20:33:11.8033333+00:00 | Bad | 1 | 2026-09-28T10:00:00+10:00 | 151.569532 | -33.278928 |
| 94c5d756-1093-48db-8dbc-70fbb523b16a | Malabar Beach | Possible | 2026-10-04T19:00:01.3033333+00:00 | Poor | 2 | 2026-09-29T10:00:00+10:00 | 151.252247 | -33.96436 |
| 68037838-94c8-47d7-8c24-646edd2c0c7e | Lake Munmorah Baths | Forecast not available | 2026-10-04T20:33:11.8033333+00:00 | Poor | 2 | 2026-09-28T10:00:00+10:00 | 151.575617 | -33.196008 |
| bbd71df5-10ea-40d5-9f0f-8f16d1bbb397 | Gwandalan | Forecast not available | 2026-10-04T20:33:11.8033333+00:00 | Poor | 2 | 2026-09-28T10:00:00+10:00 | 151.587494 | -33.138325 |
| b0513e57-bc00-46c6-b560-20d9a2207c35 | South Cronulla Beach | Unlikely | 2026-10-04T19:00:01.3033333+00:00 | Fair | 3 | 2026-09-29T10:00:00+10:00 | 151.155347 | -34.055497 |
| d9267cc6-7983-47ce-a7ba-a9a1dd932ebb | Shelly Beach (Sutherland) | Unlikely | 2026-10-04T19:00:01.3033333+00:00 | Fair | 3 | 2026-09-29T10:00:00+10:00 | 151.15542 | -34.06412 |
| 6b3d7a0d-c0bd-4e51-81a3-1b247a99eb67 | Cabbage Tree Bay | Unlikely | 2026-10-04T19:00:01.3033333+00:00 | Fair | 3 | 2026-09-28T10:00:00+10:00 | 151.5685 | -33.2791 |
| 799a3d44-7fa3-4e89-bf3d-697714c64944 | Toowoon Bay | Unlikely | 2026-10-04T19:00:01.3033333+00:00 | Fair | 3 | 2026-09-28T10:00:00+10:00 | 151.50041 | -33.36144 |
The first row as JSON
As it appears in data.json.
GET https://publicdata.au/d/nsw-beachwatch-sites/latest/data.json
{
"id": "1c31d57b-d6bd-40a7-90ba-005a452061d6",
"site_name": "One Mile Beach",
"pollution_forecast": "Unlikely",
"pollution_forecast_timestamp": "2026-10-04T19:00:01.3033333+00:00",
"latest_result": "Good",
"latest_result_rating": 4,
"latest_result_observation_date": "2026-09-24T10:00:00+10:00",
"longitude": 152.116518,
"latitude": -32.779284
}
Query it without downloading
The query API returns only the rows you ask for, as JSON, NDJSON or CSV, from the same typed rows as the files. It needs no key. Build a query here and run it, then copy the URL or the code into your own work.
How filters work
Each filter is field=operator.value in the query string, and every filter must match. A number or date field compares as a number or date, and a text field compares as text. Values are case-sensitive except with ilike. Prefix not. to negate a filter, as not.eq.value.
| Operator | What it matches |
|---|---|
| eq.value | Equal to the value. |
| neq.value | Not equal to the value. A blank cell does not match. |
| gt.value | Greater than the value. |
| gte.value | Greater than or equal to the value. |
| lt.value | Less than the value. |
| lte.value | Less than or equal to the value. |
| like.*text* | Matches a pattern where * stands for any run of characters. Case-sensitive. |
| ilike.*text* | The same as like, ignoring case. |
| in.(a,b,c) | Equal to any value in the list. A value cannot contain a comma. |
| is.null | Blank in the source, or suppressed by the publisher. |
| Parameter | What it does |
|---|---|
| select | Fields to return, comma-separated. Every field when absent. |
| order | field.asc or field.desc, comma-separated. The publisher's row order when absent. |
| limit | Rows per page, 1 to 10,000. 100 when absent. |
| offset | Rows to skip. The next URL in each answer sets it for you. |
| group | On aggregate, fields to group by, comma-separated. |
| metric | On aggregate, count, sum.field, avg.field, min.field or max.field, comma-separated. count when absent. |
| format | json, ndjson or csv. JSON carries the provenance header, and the others carry it in response headers. |
Without a version the API answers from the newest loaded version, and that answer changes when the publisher releases again. Put versions/<date>/ before rows or aggregate for an answer that never changes. /api/v1/datasets/<slug>/versions lists the loaded versions. The 2 newest versions are loaded; versions lists them.
The API allows 60 requests in 10 seconds from one address. Above that it answers 429 for 10 seconds with a Retry-After header, a RateLimit-Policy header and a JSON body that gives the limit. Every API answer carries the same RateLimit-Policy. A client should wait the Retry-After seconds, or read the files, which have no limit. openapi.json describes this dataset's query paths for client generators and agents.
https://publicdata.au/mcp is a remote MCP server over Streamable HTTP with the same tools, defined in the same place, so a tool added to the pages is added here too. It needs no key and no account. The row tools are held to the query API's limit of 60 queries in 10 seconds from one address, and each call is two queries because it also counts the matching rows. Add it to Claude Code with claude mcp add --transport http publicdata https://publicdata.au/mcp, add the URL in Claude as a custom connector, or give it to any client that connects to remote MCP servers. Each queryable dataset is also a resource at https://publicdata.au/d/<slug>/fields.json, which lists its fields with their types, the publisher's descriptions, their ranges and the values they hold, so an agent can read a dataset's shape before it writes a query.
What changed
One version for every release the publisher has made since this site started following the dataset. The date is the day the file changed on the portal.
- 2026-10-05 246 rows+0 added −0 removed 246 changed9 fieldsutf-8-sig41eb306d5016The publisher serves this as a live feed of what is current, with no change date, so this version is what the feed held when it was fetched, dated by the fetch.
- 2026-10-04 246 rows+0 added −0 removed 246 changed9 fieldsutf-8-sigeace078fe5dfThe publisher serves this as a live feed of what is current, with no change date, so this version is what the feed held when it was fetched, dated by the fetch.
- 2026-10-03 246 rows+0 added −0 removed 246 changed9 fieldsutf-8-sig4f1e944b4095The publisher serves this as a live feed of what is current, with no change date, so this version is what the feed held when it was fetched, dated by the fetch.
- 2026-10-02 246 rows9 fieldsutf-8-sig7ba64b671183The publisher serves this as a live feed of what is current, with no change date, so this version is what the feed held when it was fetched, dated by the fetch.
versions.json · changes.json · history.tar.zst (18 KB, every version's Parquet and manifest)
Questions
How do I download Beachwatch swim sites with pollution forecasts and latest water quality as a CSV file?
Open https://publicdata.au/d/nsw-beachwatch-sites/latest/data.csv. It redirects to the newest dated version, which is https://publicdata.au/d/nsw-beachwatch-sites/v/2026-10-05/data.csv today. The same path serves Excel, JSON, GeoJSON, Parquet, SQLite, DuckDB, GeoPackage, GeoParquet, NDJSON, Arrow. A dated URL never changes, so use it when the file must stay the same.
Can I open Beachwatch swim sites with pollution forecasts and latest water quality in Excel?
Yes. https://publicdata.au/d/nsw-beachwatch-sites/v/2026-10-05/data.xlsx is a workbook with the 246 rows on a records sheet, the field list on a second sheet and the provenance on a third. The CSV also opens in Excel. https://publicdata.au/d/nsw-beachwatch-sites/v/2026-10-05/data.csv.gz is the CSV at about a tenth of the size.
How often is Beachwatch swim sites with pollution forecasts and latest water quality updated?
DCCEEW updates it continuously. This site checks the portal every week and adds a dated version when the file changes.
Can I use Beachwatch swim sites with pollution forecasts and latest water quality commercially?
Yes. CC BY 4.0 allows commercial use, redistribution and derived works as long as the attribution is kept. The attribution string is in this page's side column and inside every file.
Is this the official source for Beachwatch swim sites with pollution forecasts and latest water quality?
No. The publisher is NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, and its page is https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/about-us/copyright-and-disclaimer. This site republishes the publisher's file without changing its content. The original sits beside every version as source.geojson with its SHA-256, so the two can be compared.
What coordinate system does Beachwatch swim sites with pollution forecasts and latest water quality use?
Point coordinates from a GeoJSON feed, which by the GeoJSON standard are WGS84 longitude and latitude. They are published as given. The GeoJSON file uses the same coordinates, which is what GeoJSON expects.
What this site did to the data. Cells were typed, headers were renamed and the encoding was made UTF-8. Rows were left alone. The publisher's file sits beside every version as source.geojson so the change can be checked.