WATER QUALITY STANDARDS MET BY 96 PER CENT OF ENGLAND’S SWIMMING SPOTS
Posted: Monday 15th December 2008
Ninety–six per cent of England’s bathing waters met the minimum water quality standards set by the European Bathing Water Directive this year and 65.7 per cent met the highest guideline standards according to tests carried out by the Environment Agency.
Other results this year show:
· Of the 414 bathing waters in England, 398 met the mandatory standards;· Only 16 failed the standards, meaning there was a compliance rate of 96.1 per cent; and
· A total of 272 waters met the UK’s much tighter guideline standard.
Bathing water quality has improved over the past decade - in 1998, only 89.9 per cent of England’s bathing waters met the Directive’s mandatory standards. This rose to a record 99.5 per cent in 2006.
Exceptionally wet weather in July, August and September has resulted in the slightly lower standard of the water this year. Ten of the 16 failing bathing waters are in the South West, which was hit hard by heavy rainfall during the summer. Rainfall causes pollutants from agriculture and urban areas to run off, with negative impacts on the quality of bathing waters.
Defra is working with farmers to reduce water pollution from agricultural sources, through the Catchment Sensitive Farming Delivery Initiative and the Nitrate Action Programme. Dealing with diffuse water pollution is a difficult job as it has a huge variety of sources and Defra is looking at a number of ways of tackling the problem, including the encouragement of sustainable drainage systems and correction of sewer misconnections, and regulations to control misuse of the drainage system.
The Environment Agency has called on the farming community, local authorities and the water industry to help to do more to tackle the pollution of bathing waters around the coast of England and Wales. It plans to meet relevant organisations to address the issue of water pollution caused by livestock manure and slurry, and sewage, particularly during bad weather.
Defra and the Welsh Assembly Government have published bathing water quality data for 2008 in which 96 per cent of bathing waters in England and 99 per cent in Wales passed mandatory quality standards. In England, 65.7 per cent of waters, and 77 per cent in Wales, passed the stricter 'guideline' standard.
Many locations this year were affected by extended periods of heavy rainfall during the summer, resulting in pollution caused by surface water runoff from farmland and urban areas, along with the more frequent operation of combined sewer overflows discharging into the sea. The Environment Agency is calling for more action to prevent the pollution of bathing water, particularly in light of a likely increase in the severity and frequency of heavy rainfall events due to climate change.
Initial investigations by the Environment Agency suggest that pollution from livestock manure and slurry was a factor at 16 of the 17 waters that failed to achieve mandatory status. The Environment Agency is already working with the farming community to help tackle this issue by offering advice on protecting soils to prevent run off through its 'Best Farming Practices' programme and 'thinksoils' manual. It also welcomes the extension of the England Catchment Sensitive Farming delivery initiative, which aims to help farmers reduce water pollution from agricultural land.
Investigations also suggest that pollution from overflowing drains and sewers was a factor at 13 of the 17 locations that failed to achieve mandatory status.
The Environment Agency called on water companies in England and Wales last month to invest more in maintenance to help reduce the risk of pollution incidents as part of water regulator Ofwat's review of the companies' business plans for 2010-2015. This will build on the £2 billion investment by the industry in bathing water quality improvements over the past two decades.
Paul Leinster, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, said: "Bathing water quality around the coast of England and Wales has improved dramatically over the past 20 years, but we cannot afford to be complacent. Changing weather conditions are presenting new challenges and we will continue to work closely with the farming community, local authorities and the water industry to tackle the sources of water pollution."
