Water Quality Campaign Victory

Surfers Against Sewage are pleased to hear that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have designated 9 new Bathing Waters in the UK.

These designations come as a result of continued campaigning and recommendations by Surfers Against Sewage.

Designated bathing water’s benefit from weekly water quality testing and tighter environmental regulations. The yearly results help to ensure investment and improvements for the regulator and industry. While the testing does not provide real-time quality, it does show long term trends and identifies where issues need to be addressed.

SAS have been pleased to see consistently positive results for UK bathing waters despite tighter regulations and requirements to meet standards. This represents the excellent work being carried out as result of campaigning and investment for the past 30 years. We will continue to keep pressure on the industry and regulator to guarantee the UK continues to meet these high standards and strives towards the best bathing water quality in the world.

9 new Bathing Waters

The 8 new bathing waters are designated in Cornwall as well as 1 in Dorset are:

• South Fistral beach in Newquay
• Booby’s Bay near Trevose Head
• Mexico Towan, Upton Towan and Godrevy, all situated on a long stretch of dunes in St Ives Bay
• Northcott Mouth beach to the north of Bude
• Gwynver Beach which forms part Whitesand Bay
• Tregonhawke in Whitsand Bay
•  Manor Steps Beach in Bournemouth

These bathing waters will receive weekly testing from the start of the 2018 Bathing Season in May. SAS will provide real-time data on pollution incidents that might reduce bathing water quality at these locations via the Safer Seas Service.

SAS would always recommend that people visit bathing waters that are classified as ‘Excellent’ and benefit from Safer Seas Servicecoverage, to have the best chances of good water quality. This truly is the most comprehensive coastal public health coverage in the world.

The Safer Seas Service is available as a free interactive map and app download on iOS and Android. Following recent updates to operating software the Safer Seas Service is not functioning on all phones. SAS are addressing this issue and future proofing the Safer Seas Service to ensure it remains accessible to every water user. The interactive map will continue to function during this time providing real-time water quality updates for 330 beaches across the country.