Bathing Water
The Beaches and Water Quality
Between Porlock and Blue Anchor along the beautiful West Somerset coastline there are four important EU Designated bathing beaches.
The water quality at these designated beaches of Porlock Weir, Minehead, Dunster and Blue Anchor is very good and to ensure it remains good, it is tested twenty four times throughout the bathing season (15th May to 30th Sept). The testing is carried out by Environment Agency and reported to the public by Environmental Health at the Council. The results can be viewed on this Council’s website (related documents) and at the visitor centres at Minehead and Porlock.
The bathing water quality is generally better at Porlock Weir and has been excellent here for a number of years. The reason is thought to be a result of a number of factors, such as more true marine influence at Porlock with less agricultural run-off than other areas and also partly a result of sophisticated tertiary (membrane) treatment at Wessex Water’s sewage works in Porlock. The Marine Conservation Society’s Good Beach Guide recommends a number of these beaches.
However, there are no designated Blue Flag beaches in West Somerset. The European Blue Flag Campaign is a European initiative and is administered in the UK by the Tidy Britain Group. It was first introduced in 1987 and recognises those beaches and marinas that are clean, well managed and promote care for the environment. To be recognised for an award a beach must have attained the water quality guideline standard before being assessed for 24 other criteria.
To maintain the water quality, a number of agencies, public bodies and landowners all work together to ensure the water quality remains good. For example, whilst the sea naturally cleanses the coastline, the Council helps by removing detritus at the beach in Minehead every day during the summer months and there is also a dog ban in place between May and September along this stretch. Anyone interested in tackling the problem of pollution of the marine environment is encouraged to take part a Beachwatch event and also, to adopt a local beach.
Along the West Somerset coastline an additional indicator of water quality is the presence of a rare reef-building worm (Sabellaria alveolata). Sabellaria alveolata reefs are sensitive to environmental stress (like dredging and sewage) and provide the rich habitat for other species, such as bivalves, worms and amphipods. These are an important food source for local fisheries.
In future years, the water quality standards along the coastline will be getting tighter and more representative of risks to human health, so the need for all relevant bodies working together closely, will be even more important. For example, a recent development by Wessex Water shows the times & occasions of sewer overflows. At times during the year such during heavy storms, the capacity of the sewerage network can become inundated by rain-fall and there are a number of discharge points designed within this network, to allow the storm surges to escape into the environment. By accessing the Wessex Water data before accessing the beach, will show whether the beaches could have been affected.
Across the UK from 2012 there will be signage at every EU Designated bathing beach displaying the water quality, which is a result of the work going on behind the scenes to protect these popular tourist locations.