Who is responsible for bathing water management?
The Bathing Water Regulations set out the responsibilities of public bodies for each aspect of bathing water management.
The Secretary of State (Defra) is responsible for designating and de-designating bathing waters, providing guidance on how to implement the Regulations, preparing reports on bathing water seasons, and acting as an enforcer when local authorities fail to meet their duties.
The Environment Agency is responsible for monitoring, assessing and classifying bathing waters and providing bathing water profiles, as well as passing on information on bathing waters to public. The Environment Agency also have the responsibility to manage the quality of the water to meet the Regulations’ standards through pollution prevention measures and to notify bathers via Swimfo of pollution incidents and warnings of Short-Term Pollution.
Local Authorities are responsible for signage at bathing waters and the health of those who bathe there. They are also responsible for passing on information about pollution incidents at bathing waters to the public and to prevent people’s exposure to them.
Finally, it’s the responsibility of water companies to inform the Environment Agency and Local Authorities of any pollution incidents that take place.
Pollution risk forecasting
Even where the water quality meets the annual standards, sometimes it can be reduced temporarily after heavy rainfall, wind, or the tide, so between May and September, the Environment Agency makes daily pollution risk forecasts for a number of bathing waters, where water quality may be temporarily reduced. It is not related to storm overflow discharges.
When a temporary reduction in water quality is forecast, it issues a pollution risk warning and advises against bathing. You can find this information on the Swimfo website or on signs at the beach that may advise against bathing.
This information enables bathers to avoid times or locations where the risk of pollution is higher than normal, and health risks from bathing may be higher than the annual classification suggests. Knowing more about water quality helps people make informed decisions on when and where to swim.
The Pollution Risk Forecast warnings are only advisory, and rather like a weather forecast, are just a 24-hour forecast of when we think water quality will probably be reduced.
To help members of the public make informed decisions about whether to go into the water, Southern Water announce when they release storm overflow discharges that could affect Bathing Waters. Their Beachbuoy system allows people to check for recent releases via a map on its website, where the data on storm overflows is published.
The Safer Seas and Rivers Service app from Surfers Against Sewage will also carry this advice.
What are the pollution risk signage requirements?
It is the responsibility of the local authority to decide what signage is appropriate to inform bathers. Typically, local authorities will place one sign on the main bathing water signage, and a few local authorities have an electronic sign which automatically updates. Pollution Risk Forecast warnings are a 24-hour forecast of when we think water quality will probably be reduced and can be found on the Swimfo website.
Further guidance can be found on GOV.UK.
This signage is in addition to the signage required to be displayed because the bathing water has been classified as Poor.
What is the difference between Pollution Risk Forecasting and Pollution Incidents?
Pollution Risk Forecasts are nothing to do with any on-going pollution incident, they are forecasts of when quality may be reduced due to predictable pollution from natural factors such as heavy rainfall. If there has been a specific pollution incident that may impact on bathing water quality, the Environment Agency contacts the local authority directly, and prominent signs advising against bathing are put up to warn members of the public.
The Environment Agency will also issue a notification on its Swimfo website for any designated beaches if there has been a pollution incident that may impact on bathing water quality, throughout the year. The Environment Agency contacts the local authority directly, and prominent signs advising against bathing are put up to warn members of the public. The duration of a pollution incident will vary, and the Environment Agency continuously assess the impacts until the cause of the incident has ceased.
The warning is only removed from the website once it is deemed the incident is finished and that bathers are no longer at risk.
Pollution incidents can be reported at any time to the Environment Agency’s Incident Communication Service on 0800 80 70 60 or via email at Incident_Communication_Service@environment-agency.gov.uk.
You can find out more about how the Environment Agency classifies and responds to environmental incidents on their website.
Southern Water must inform the Environment Agency when there has been an unpermitted discharge from their assets to the environment so an assessment can be made of the impact to the environment and any bathing waters.
What are Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) and Storm Overflows/Discharges?
A CSO is an overflow pipe designed to relieve pressure on sewerage systems during periods of high rainfall, with the aim of preventing sewage from flooding homes. Overflows allow rainwater and diluted sewage (usually screened to remove solids), to bypass sewage treatment works and flow directly into rivers and coastal waters. The majority of sewers in England are ‘combined sewers’ and carry both sewage and surface water from roofs and drains.
The Environment Agency authorise the discharge of storm sewage when heavy rainfall overloads the sewer network. This is necessary in order to prevent the flooding of people’s homes, workplaces and neighbourhoods with sewage. Storm overflows are subject to strict conditions which are set out in the environmental permits for each site.
Flow-to-full treatment refers to the level of rain and wastewater, or flow, a sewage treatment works must treat before it is permitted to discharge excess flows to storm tanks or the environment. A works must treat all flows up to a limit specified in permits. This ensures there is enough dilution in any overflow to minimise its impact on the environment.
There continues to be a keen spotlight on storm overflow discharges affecting bathing waters, and rightly so. The Environment Agency has played a central role in driving better monitoring and transparency from water companies and there are new obligations on water and sewerage water companies to make real-time data on all storm overflows available all year round, including those impacting designated bathing waters.
The increase in Event Duration Monitoring associated with designated bathing waters and other blue spaces means more data on how often and for how long storm overflows discharge. This is an important step in ensuring everyone can see exactly what is happening, and will help drive the improvements and future investment needed to ensure bathing water quality is maintained and improved.
There is clearly more to do to minimise the impacts of not only sewage pollution, but also agricultural and urban diffuse pollution.