Concerns raised as water quality drops out of season at South West beaches
Greenpeace are calling on the Environment Agency to implement year-round testing, which they say would protect wildlife and wild swimmers
Concerns are being raised as an internal study by the Environment Agency's found a 'sharp decline' in water quality at top-rated beaches, including some in Devon and Cornwall, during the winter months.
Greenpeace are calling on the Environment Agency to implement year-round testing, which they say would protect wildlife and wild swimmers.
South West Water tell us they've already enhanced monitoring at several beaches, adding agricultural pollution is a 'significant contributor', and have previously made a commitment in its 2022-2025 plan to “maintain our excellent bathing water quality standards, all year round”.
You can read more about that plan here.
This all comes after it's reported the Environment Agency ran a trial last winter at six West Country beaches - all currently rated ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ - to test the sampling over the colder months.
Under the current regime, they are given a rating of ‘excellent’, ‘good’, ‘sufficient’ or ‘poor’ based on monitoring between mid-May and late September - and according to this study, between October and March, there were much higher levels of E coli and Intestinal Enterococci at half of the beaches in the trial.
These are bacteria found in human and animal faeces that can cause serious gastrointestinal illness.
Two beaches both dropped from their 'Excellent' status down to 'Sufficient' outside of the summer season.
These were Summerleaze in Bude and Firestone Bay in Plymouth.
Worryingly, Exmouth, a Blue-Flag beach in South Devon, fell from ‘excellent’ to ‘poor’, the worst rating available for a designated bathing water site, and below the minimum acceptable standard.
'We need year-round testing'
Greenpeace UK’s Chief Scientist, Dr Doug Parr, said: “This shows how the health of the environment and our own bodies are linked. Wild swimming and its health benefits must not become unavailable due to the UK’s terrible water pollution.
"We need the Environment Agency to implement year-round testing for bacteria levels and other pollutants from farmland and our negligent water companies. That would allow wild swimmers to avoid these risks. And it would give us data which we can use to help protect the wildlife that doesn’t have a choice of when and where to swim.”
In response, South West Water tell us they're already being proactive in taking action to protect and monitor the quality of water at more than 150 sites, in what they're calling an 'enhanced bathing water programme'.
This involves taking daily samples in what's hoped to become a learning point on what they can do to track down potential sources of any contaminants found in the water.
They add farming makes up a significant chunk of these.
'We fully support efforts to better understand conditions across the bathing waters we serve'
Richard Price, Managing Director of Waste Water Services, South West Water said: "Bathing water quality in our region remains a priority, and we fully support efforts to better understand conditions across the 157 bathing waters we serve. We've already enhanced our monitoring at several beaches and, through our WaterFit Live programme, provide public updates on storm overflow operations year-round.
“The recent Environment Agency report investigated sampling out of season, highlighting both practical challenges—60% of planned samples weren't collected due to health and safety concerns—and the low use of bathing waters during these months. Beaches like Exmouth, Summerleaze, and Firestone Bay, which are at the bottom of large river catchments, can be affected by a mix of contaminants, including agricultural runoff and animal waste, as well as some human-related sources.
“The report shows that agricultural pollution is a significant contributor, responsible for about 50% of microbial sources in these areas. However, both Firestone and Summerleaze met in-season water quality standards during the off-season.
“While past investment plans focused on ensuring compliance during the bathing season, we're now targeting year-round water quality. We’ve intensified our efforts to address storm overflows and aim to reduce them to fewer than 10 spills per year at all relevant assets. Winter months pose unique challenges due to higher rainfall and increased surface runoff, but we're committed to improving the situation and ensuring ongoing compliance with water quality standards."
The Government tell us they remain committed to cleaning-up the waters in our rivers and seas.
'We will continue to work closely with the agriculture sector'
Defra spokesperson said: “This Government has reset the water sector to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.
“We recognise there have been changes in how people use bathing waters since the regulations were introduced over ten years ago, and will continue to keep our regulations under review.”
An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “During the bathing water season, we take more than 7,000 samples at 451 bathing waters to provide people with water quality information to make informed choices on when and where to swim.
“This report showed that all locations except one maintained a water quality standard of 'sufficient' or higher over the winter.
“We will continue to work closely with the agriculture sector, water companies and local communities to ensure the highest standard of bathing waters for the public."
A major academic study on the popularity of cold-water swimming, was released in August - which you can read more about here.
It concluded that more support - including winter testing - was needed to make wild bathing sites safer for women.