Beach water quality plummets at tourist spots

There is significantly more sewage pollution in the sea at some of the South West's most popular beaches during the winter months, according to an Environment Agency report.

As part of a trial in response to the popularity of cold-water swimming, six beaches across the region were tested by the Environment Agency last winter, all of which are currently rated 'good' or 'excellent' for their bathing water quality. But these ratings are only based on monitoring from mid-May to the end of September.

The findings of the trial are yet to be published but have been seen by Greenpeace's Unearthed and the organisation says it "will cause concern" among sea swimmers.

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They say that Exmouth, where there is mounting anger after a series of pollution events over the summer, saw the worst decline in water quality, going from 'excellent' to 'poor' during the winter. Andy Tyerman, from End Sewage Convoys and Pollution in Exmouth (ESCAPE) told Unearthed said it was "unacceptable".

He said: "This study shows an urgent need to understand the broader picture, as this is a single year and a very small sample group across the South West. It is unacceptable that our waters are still routinely used to dump large amounts of untreated sewage."

In Summerleaze in Bude and Firestone Bay in Plymouth, water quality dropped from 'excellent' to 'sufficient. Meanwhile Woolacombe and Fistral North in Newquay held onto their 'excellent' rating and it was positive news for Lyme Regis who saw an improvement from 'good' to 'excellent'.

For the beaches that saw worsened pollution, there were much higher levels of E coli and Intestinal Enterococci, which are bacteria found in faeces, which can cause serious gastrointestinal illness.

In its 2022 to 2025 plan, South West Water promised to "maintain our excellent bathing water quality standards, all year round".

In response to concerns about the findings of the Environment Agency study, Richard Price, Managing Director of Waste Water Services at South West Water told Unearthed: "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.

"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,” he added.

"The report shows that agricultural pollution is a significant contributor, responsible for about 50% of microbial sources in these areas."

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."