Anger over swimming comments from Wessex Water boss

There's anger from councillors in Bournemouth and Poole after a senior boss at Wessex Water warned people about "swimming with your mouth open".

The environmental director claimed the "only way you will not get ill from consuming water is if you consume tap water".

Wessex Water says Ruth Barden was reiterating national advice as even excellent bathing waters aren't without risk.

She made the comments during a BCP Council meeting where she was discussing efforts to tackle pollution.

A Wessex Water spokesperson said: “The advice from both Public Health England and wild swimming groups is to avoid ingesting river, lake or sea water while swimming as there will always be bacteria in the sea – from wildlife faeces and run-off from agricultural land, as well as regulated storm overflows and treated sewage discharges.

“Ruth Barden was reiterating that advice and emphasising that the only water guaranteed to be free from bacteria is tap water. While bathing waters in the BCP area are classified as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’, this doesn’t mean they are without risk”

Ruth’s presentation explained that storm overflows operate under permits from the Environment Agency, which are designed so discharges don’t impact on water quality.

Wessex Water’s online Coast and Rivers Watch system notifies when they operate, enabling recreational users to decide whether or not to choose to swim at that time.

The spokesperson added: “In an ideal world we wouldn’t have overflows, but separating out surface water will require enormous investment and disruption.

“We are monitoring and reporting all overflow operations; identifying the ones that will potentially cause environmental or public health harm, addressing those and then progressively working through the others.”