The government has updated its guidance for applying for bathing water designation in England. The guidance on applying to de-designate existing bathing waters has also been updated. The updates mean that the application process is now easier to follow and ensures the criteria for designation are clearly set out. Defra will use the updated guidance to […]
Environment Agency chief executive Sir James Bevan has called an article in The Times, headlined Beach sewage inspections to be scaled back, “factually inaccurate and misleading”. He was responding to a request for information from the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee, on the article’s claims that the Environment Agency has taken a decision […]
At nearly four miles long, Loch Leven is the largest natural body of water in the UK, and has long attracted wild swimmers, with everyone from triathletes-in-training to the more casual paddlers heading to Kinross for a dip. Now the Scottish Greens are calling for the loch to become Scotland’s first protected wild swimming hotspot. They […]
Anglian Water begins work to support the creation of the first official inland swimming hotspots in the East of England Water company pledges water quality monitoring support and funding to assist rivers groups Forms critical first steps of a commitment to ensuring 90% the region’s population live within 1-hour of an inland bathing location by […]
Severn Trent is trialling the use of ozone disinfectant to create bathing rivers in the UK in a move that could help revolutionise the future of wastewater treatment. In what is believed to be a UK first, ozone treatment will be used to improve the health of rivers in Warwickshire and Shropshire. An extract from the […]
Campaigners for improved water quality in a Suffolk river are planning to submit an application to make it the third in England with bathing water status. Why are they doing it and what would it mean to those who go into the water there? The ‘Save the Deben’ environmental campaign group is behind the bid […]
The Guardian reports that the Liberal Democrats condemn ‘environment scandal’ as party releases figures compiled from Environment Agency data Untreated sewage was discharged into England’s coastal bathing waters for more than 160,000 hours last year, according to figures collated by the Liberal Democrats to mark the start of the summer sea-swimming season. Data compiled by […]
As covered last week, thousands of people took part in the first National Day of Action on Water Quality on Saturday 23 April, a mass protest over water firms dumping sewage in rivers. Ocean conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) joined forces with clean water campaign groups to organise simultaneous protests against water companies from Scotland to […]