Real-time Water Quality App Makes Our Seas A Safer Place

DOWNLOAD NOW! The Safer Seas Service Water Quality App.

Today we are  launching the Safer Seas Service, the only national real-time water quality app that protects all water users from pollution. The free app alerts water users when sewer overflows discharge untreated human sewage into the sea and when water quality is reduced by diffuse pollution at 315 beaches across England and Wales.  Warning beach goers about pollution incidents in real-time via the Safer Seas Service helps subscribers find unaffected beaches that have the best water quality exactly when they want to hit the beach. The Safer Seas Service app is free to download for iPhones, iPads and mobile Android devices from iTunes and Google Play.

The Safer Seas Service app is this summer’s must have beach information service, allowing surfers and beach users to make the most informed decision about how, when and where they use the sea.  This information has already proven extremely valuable to lifeguards and beach users this year, providing alerts at beaches blighted by sewage discharges even on the sunniest of days.

The Safer Seas Service is an enhanced version of SAS’s Sewage Alert Service app. Since launching, the service has issued real-time alerts for a shocking 3,665 individual sewage spills at beaches nationwide. The updated Safer Seas Service will not only warn beach users about further untreated sewage spills, but also incorporate new daily predictions on the impacts of diffuse pollution at 164 beaches across England and Wales.

The Safer Seas Service already has over 20,000 users with many signing up to multiple beaches, with over 40,000 beach subscriptions being provided free through the pioneering service.

How does the Safer Seas Service work?

  • Surfers Against Sewage receives real-time warnings from water companies when their sewer overflows discharge untreated human sewage at 222 beaches.  The Safer Seas Service app generates a push message for smart phone users and an SMS message for other mobiles.
  • Surfers Against Sewage also receives daily forecasts from the Environment Agency relating to impacts from diffuse pollution at 164 beaches.  When a potential impact on water quality is forecast the Safer Seas Service app generates a push message for smart phone users and an SMS message for other mobiles.
  • There are 71 sites that the Safer Seas Service report in real-time on both sewage discharges and impacts from diffuse pollution.

There is no other service in the world that provides such complete and up to date information on water quality. We want beach users to visit, use and enjoy UK beaches, but avoid contracting some of the serious illnesses associated with bathing in polluted waters.

The Safer Seas Service also has some additional features to help us all protect water quality, report pollution incidents and further the public’s understanding of the health threats.  One of the most popular features will be the pollution incident history for beaches within the service.  Users can find out if pollution events are a regular occurrence at their beach or an unfortunate one off.

As well as the new app, the Safer Seas Service warnings are also displayed on an online map and available as free SMS messages from the SAS website for any none smart phone users.

Download the app now, explore the new features and sign up to your favourite beaches!