Revealed: Auckland's worst beaches for swimming Mission Bay, pictured, is regularly unsafe for swimming because of sewage overflow. Photo/ Dean Purcell Revealed: Auckland's worst beaches for swimming Sat, 16 Jan 2021, 1:17PM Auckland's worst beaches have been ranked in damning new data as a $106 million rates rise to clean up sewage from them is being fast-tracked by politicians. A push to raise Auckland's water quality targeted rate (WQTR) by up to 5 per cent every year for the next decade would mean by 2030/31 the average residential property would be paying $94 to fix the city's legacy sewerage system. The average business would be paying $435 in water quality rates in a decade's time.