2007 bathing season isn't a washout
15/11/2007
Nearly 98% of bathing waters in England this year met the water quality standards required by law, despite the wettest summer since records began.
405 out of the 414 bathing water sites in England monitored by the Environment Agency met the ‘mandatory’ standard demanded under the Bathing Water Directive, a compliance rate of 97.8%. The much tighter ‘guideline’ standard was met by 72.5% of monitored waters.
Bathing water quality has increased steadily in recent years. In 1997, 88% of waters met the mandatory standard, and 35% met the guideline standard. In 2006 this had risen to 99.5% and 75% respectively.
The slight drop in levels this year is likely to be due to the exceptional rainfall over the summer. Heavy rainfall can temporarily affect bathing water quality as the flow of water washes pollution into coastal waters and rivers through the sewage network, and increases run-off from farmland and urban streets. Water quality affected in this way usually returns to its normal condition after the rain subsides.
Environment Minister Phil Woolas said:
“We achieved our best ever levels of bathing water quality last summer, and this year standards are still high despite the exceptionally wet weather. Although compliance has dropped slightly, we know the likely cause. Overall, the direction of travel is clear – bathing water in England is getting better, and that’s good news for everyone who lives here and all those who visit our coasts.
“Increased investment by water companies since the 1990s to improve the sewage network has played a major part in making this happen. We are now much more resilient to the effects of wet weather than we have been in the past.
“We must go further though, to prepare for the more stringent bathing water quality standards which come into effect by 2015. To meet these we will be taking measures to upgrade the sewerage infrastructure and tackle diffuse water pollution from farming and urban sources. Better public information will also be provided, to give bathers a fuller picture of the water quality expected at each bathing site.”
Environment Agency Chief Executive Barbara Young said:
"We've seen an extraordinary amount of rainfall this past summer, and as a result a temporary increase in the amount of pollution at some bathing waters - because of run-off from farmland and storm overflows in the sewerage system.
“Water quality is still much better than we were seeing 15 years ago, but if we want to see this continue we all need to be ready to cope with these rainfall events, which are likely to become even more frequent with climate change. Water companies need to climate-proof their sewerage systems and we're here to help farmers reduce pollution too."
A consultation outlining Defra’s proposals for the implementation of the revised Bathing Water Directive was published on 12 November. The new Directive will update the way in which water quality is measured and will use four new classification categories: poor, sufficient, good and excellent. It will also require specific bathing water information to be provided to the public, both on signage at beaches and online.
Notes to editors
1. Further information about the EC Bathing Water Directive (76/160/EEC) and bathing water quality in England can be found on the Defra website at: www.defra.gov.uk/environment/water/quality/bathing/default.htm
2. The main water quality results for identified coastal and inland bathing waters in England, and a summary of the UK compliance figures, can be found in the 2007 results tables. A report with more detailed results for the UK will be available on the bathing water web page by the end of December 2007 (web address as above).
3. Standards required by the Bathing Water Directive:
• Bathing water quality results in the UK are assessed on the basis of compliance with standards in the Bathing Water Directive. The two main standards used to assess the quality of bathing water are total coliforms and faecal coliforms, which are bacteria found in the guts of humans and other warm-blooded animals, and are indicators of contamination from sewage and other sources.
• The Directive sets minimum ‘mandatory’ values to be achieved by 95% of samples (normally 19 out of 20 samples) taken during the bathing season. The number of samples failing to meet the Directive's standards for total and faecal coliform bacteria is shown for each failed bathing water in the 2007 results table.
• The tighter ‘guideline’ water quality standards are based on compliance with three microbiological standards specified in the Bathing Water Directive (which sets maximum permitted levels of total and faecal coliforms and faecal streptococci). These standards are one of the requirements for a beach to achieve ‘Blue Flag’ status, and are described as ‘guideline’ (indicated by ‘G’) in the 2007 results table.
• The European Commission will publish the 2007 results for other EU Member States in May / June 2008 on its website.
4. 2007 bathing water information for England:
• The 9 bathing waters that failed to meet the minimum ‘mandatory’ standards are: Staithes, Sandsend and Runswick Bay in the North East region; Aldingham, Morecambe South and St Annes in the North West and Bude Summerleaze, Instow and Mothecombe in the South West.
• Two new bathing waters have been identified in 2007: Brighton Central and Tankerton, both in the Southern Region. The existing sample site at Brighton has been renamed Brighton Kemptown.
• Three bathing waters could not be sampled in 2007. Blackpool North and Cleveleys in North West region have been closed due to major engineering works to the sea defences. The footpath to Duporth in South West region has been closed due to unsafe access.
• Two bathing waters that were closed in 2006 (Blackpool Central in the North West region and Newhaven beach in the Southern region) were re-opened.
• The bathing season runs from 15 May to 30 September, although water quality sampling begins two weeks before the start of the season.
• Data from the Met Office show that 2007 has been the wettest year since records for England began in 1914.
5. Bathing water results for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are published by the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Department of the Environment Northern Ireland, respectively. The results are also available on the internet sites of the Environment Agency (for England and Wales), Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Environment and Heritage Service (for Northern Ireland). Any questions relating to bathing water compliance should be directed to the relevant organisation.
6. In March 2006 a revised Bathing Water Directive was adopted (2006/7/EC). A consultation outlining Defra’s proposals to implement the revised Bathing Water Directive was issued on 12 November 2007, including measures to meet the tighter minimum standards of the Directive and proposals for better public information. The consultation closes on 4 February 2008. It can be found online at: www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/bathingwaters/index.htm.
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