--- title: Beach Report enterococci samples, Port Phillip Bay, since 2013 resource: https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/ publisher: Environment Protection Authority Victoria licence: CC BY 4.0 licence_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ version: 2026-10-03 rows: 9766 fields: 6 source: https://apps.epa.vic.gov.au/datavic/Data_Vic/BeachReport/Beach_Report_enterococci_data.xlsx source_sha256: c79a26e6cf48afd749d9e13d5657dd6ac12199d31b6cf031463f8e93a08c02c0 language: en-AU operator: National Digital not_endorsed: true --- # Beach Report enterococci samples, Port Phillip Bay, since 2013 Every enterococci water sample EPA Victoria has taken at Port Phillip Bay beaches since December 2013, about 9,700 results, with beach, time and count. Published by Environment Protection Authority Victoria under CC BY 4.0 and republished here in other formats, with cells typed and suppressed values made null. Environment Protection Authority Victoria has not endorsed this site. Also called: EPA Beach Report enterococci data, Port Phillip Bay beach bacteria results, Melbourne beach water quality history. ## Download Latest version, redirects to `https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/v/2026-10-03/`: - csv: https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/latest/data.csv (593 KB) - xlsx: https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/latest/data.xlsx (306 KB) - json: https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/latest/data.json (1.4 MB) - parquet: https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/latest/data.parquet (62 KB) - sqlite: https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/latest/data.sqlite (573 KB) - duckdb: https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/latest/data.duckdb (400 KB) - ndjson: https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/latest/data.ndjson (1.4 MB) - arrow: https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/latest/data.arrow (163 KB) - csv.gz: https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/latest/data.csv.gz (64 KB) Pinned version 2026-10-03: `https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/v/2026-10-03/data.`. Dated versions never change. ## Query 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. Rows: https://publicdata.au/api/v1/datasets/vic-beach-report-enterococci/rows. Counts and sums: https://publicdata.au/api/v1/datasets/vic-beach-report-enterococci/aggregate. - Rows: https://publicdata.au/api/v1/datasets/vic-beach-report-enterococci/rows?enterococci=gt.400&sample_datetime=gte.2023-11-01&limit=5 - Aggregate: https://publicdata.au/api/v1/datasets/vic-beach-report-enterococci/aggregate?group=site_name&metric=count&enterococci=gt.400&sample_datetime=gte.2023-11-01 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`. Operators: `eq.value`, `neq.value`, `gt.value`, `gte.value`, `lt.value`, `lte.value`, `like.*text*`, `ilike.*text*`, `in.(a,b,c)`, `is.null`. - `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//` before `rows` or `aggregate` for an answer that never changes. `/api/v1/datasets//versions` lists the loaded versions. 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 for this dataset: https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/openapi.json ## Explore Charts and dashboards in the browser: https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/explore/. A dashboard can be shared as a link or embedded. ## Fields | field | type | publisher's header | note | |---|---|---|---| | `site_id` | integer | Site ID | | | `site_name` | string | Site Name | | | `sample_datetime` | string | Sample datetime | Local date and time, as YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS. Kept as text because some samples from 2023 carry fractions of a second from the publisher's system. | | `enterococci` | number | Enterococci value (orgs/100 mL) | | | `qualifier` | string | Enterococci qualifier | =, < or >, where < and > mark a count beyond what the test reports. | | `sample_type` | string | Sample type | | ## Versions - 2026-10-03: 9766 rows, 6 fields, sha256 c79a26e6cf48. https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/v/2026-10-03/ Machine-readable: https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/versions.json, https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/changes.json, https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/datapackage.json, https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/schema.json, https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/history.tar.zst ## Part of EPA Beach Report water quality - [Beach Report sampling sites, Port Phillip Bay](https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-sites/) ## Same subject, other publishers - [Beachwatch swim sites with pollution forecasts and latest water quality, New South Wales](https://publicdata.au/d/nsw-beachwatch-sites/) (NSW) - [Recreational lakes and rivers water quality, ACT, 2019-20 season](https://publicdata.au/d/act-recreational-water-quality-2019-20/) (ACT) - [Recreational lakes and rivers water quality, ACT, 2018-19 season](https://publicdata.au/d/act-recreational-water-quality-2018-19/) (ACT) - [Lakes and rivers water quality samples, ACT](https://publicdata.au/d/act-lakes-rivers-water-quality/) (ACT) - [Daily water storage levels, Australian dams and reservoirs](https://publicdata.au/d/au-water-storage-levels/) (Cth) - [Daily storage volume of Melbourne Water's dams, 1940 to 2020](https://publicdata.au/d/vic-melbourne-water-daily-storage/) (Vic) - [Monthly water storage levels, Victoria](https://publicdata.au/d/vic-water-storage-levels/) (Vic) - [Air quality monitoring by hour, ACT](https://publicdata.au/d/act-air-quality/) (ACT) - [Bushfire and prescribed burn history, South Australia](https://publicdata.au/d/sa-fire-history/) (SA) - [Air quality monitoring sites, South Australia](https://publicdata.au/d/sa-air-quality-monitoring-sites/) (SA) - [Water storages and their capacity, Victoria](https://publicdata.au/d/vic-water-storages/) (Vic) - [Water storages reporting to the Bureau of Meteorology, Australia](https://publicdata.au/d/au-water-storages/) (Cth) ## Attribution and citation Environment Protection Authority Victoria, Victorian Government, Beach Report enterococci data, sourced 3 October 2026, https://discover.data.vic.gov.au/dataset/beach-report-enterococci-data, licensed under CC BY 4.0. The licence requires the publisher's attribution. We ask that you also name publicdata.au and link to the version you used. Plain text: Environment Protection Authority Victoria, Victorian Government, Beach Report enterococci data, sourced 3 October 2026, https://discover.data.vic.gov.au/dataset/beach-report-enterococci-data, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Serialised and versioned by National Digital at publicdata.au, https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/v/2026-10-03/ Harvard: Environment Protection Authority Victoria (2026) Beach Report enterococci samples, Port Phillip Bay, since 2013, version 2026-10-03 [data set], CC BY 4.0, sourced 3 October 2026. Serialised and versioned by National Digital at publicdata.au. Available at: https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/v/2026-10-03/ Markdown: Data: [EPA Beach Report water quality](https://discover.data.vic.gov.au/dataset/beach-report-enterococci-data), Environment Protection Authority Victoria, [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), sourced 3 October 2026. Files: [publicdata.au](https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/v/2026-10-03/) by [National Digital](https://nationaldigital.com.au/). ## Questions ### How do I download Beach Report enterococci samples, Port Phillip Bay as a CSV file? Open https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/latest/data.csv. It redirects to the newest dated version, which is https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/v/2026-10-03/data.csv today. The same path serves Excel, JSON, Parquet, SQLite, DuckDB, NDJSON, Arrow. A dated URL never changes, so use it when the file must stay the same. ### Can I open Beach Report enterococci samples, Port Phillip Bay in Excel? Yes. https://publicdata.au/d/vic-beach-report-enterococci/v/2026-10-03/data.xlsx is a workbook with the 9,766 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/vic-beach-report-enterococci/v/2026-10-03/data.csv.gz is the CSV at about a tenth of the size. ### What years does Beach Report enterococci samples, Port Phillip Bay cover? The current version covers the years since 2013. Each release from EPA Victoria becomes a new dated version here, and earlier versions stay online. ### How often is Beach Report enterococci samples, Port Phillip Bay updated? EPA Victoria releases it weekly in the sampling season. This site checks the portal every week and adds a dated version when the file changes. ### Can I use Beach Report enterococci samples, Port Phillip Bay 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 Beach Report enterococci samples, Port Phillip Bay? No. The publisher is Environment Protection Authority Victoria, and its page is https://discover.data.vic.gov.au/dataset/beach-report-enterococci-data. This site republishes the publisher's file without changing its content. The original sits beside every version as source.xlsx with its SHA-256, so the two can be compared. ### What does each row hold? One water sample taken at one beach, with the beach's site number and name, the date and time it was taken, the enterococci count in organisms per 100 mL, a qualifier and the sample type, such as Routine. ### What does the qualifier mean? An equals sign means the count is as measured. A less than or greater than sign means the true count is below or above the figure given, which is the limit the laboratory test can report. ### Where are the beaches? The beaches and their coordinates are in the companion table of Beach Report sites, which joins on the site number. ### Why does one beach appear under more than one name? The publisher renamed some sites and misspelt others, so site 99170 is Frankston LSC, Frankston Life Saving Club and Frankston Surf Life Saving Club, and site 99700 is also Wiliamstown. Group by the site number to count a beach across the whole record. ## What this site did to the data Cells were typed, headers were renamed to snake_case and the encoding was made UTF-8. Rows were left alone. Nothing is derived. The publisher's file is beside every version as `source.xlsx`. ## Improve this dataset This page is built from [register/vic-beach-report-enterococci.yaml](https://github.com/National-Digital/publicdata.au/blob/main/register/vic-beach-report-enterococci.yaml) on GitHub, and a fix to it is welcome as a pull request. https://publicdata.au/contribute/ explains how.