The Government is consulting on the largest ever rollout of new bathing water sites. The short consultation closes on 10 March. Subject to the consultation, the Environment Agency will create 27 new designated swimming spots across England. If designated, sites will receive regular water monitoring from the Environment Agency, who will investigate pollution sources and […]
The majority of popular inland bathing spots in England have been found to be unsafe for swimming, according to a report by Surfers Against Sewage. In a survey of a representative sample of popular swimming and water sports locations, 60% were found to have pollution at unsafe levels, the annual report from the campaign group said. Forty […]
MARINET (www.marinet.org.uk) has free copies available of its publication, Sand, Sea and Sewage. This is an in-depth study of the application by of the Bathing Water Regulations since 2015, with recommendations for eliminating sewage pollution to rivers and coastal waters along with a history of campaigning on these issues since the introduction of the UK […]
The headline in the Guardian was clear ‘the UK ranked last in Europe for bathing water quality in 2020’. The European Environment Agency report put UK at the bottom of its list of reporting countries. However, as Defra & Water UK were quick to point out Covid limited the ability of UK to complete the […]
Phil Bremner, Business Synergies ‘As you will have seen from previous Editor’s Comments I have been supportive of the efforts of the Ilkley Clean River Campaign’s to obtain bathing water status for the River Ilkley in West Yorkshire. No UK river has designated bathing water status while Germany has 38, Italy 73 and France 573, just 14% of Britain’s rivers […]
Response to the European Environment Agency’s bathing water assessment Guardian: Only two-thirds of UK bathing waters rated excellent in EU survey Defra ‘Today there has been coverage in the Guardian, the Times, Daily Mirror and water trade publications of the European Environment Agency (EEA) annual assessment of bathing waters across Europe. In the assessment, the EEA […]
Push for bathing water quality hailed as ‘game changer’ for UK rivers Environment Agency boss calls for more funding to help public embrace wild swimming Guardian Sandra Laville ‘Growing pressure to clean up Britain’s rivers to meet bathing water quality is a “game changer” that will require more government funding as the public embrace the […]
Defra 388 top-rated beaches after scorching summer boosts visitors to seaside Beaches around the country achieved top water quality standards this year as millions flocked to the coast to enjoy the record-breaking hot weather. 97.9% of bathing waters passed tough standards following a programme of water quality testing at 420 bathing spots carried out by […]