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Bathing Water Season is here! Time to get your feet wet!

Bathing water season is here again, starting this weekend on Saturday 15^th May. This is the time to get down to the beach and make the most of the beautiful coastline we have on our doorstep.

After a tough year of lock downs and restrictions, the coast will be more important than ever to people’s health and wellbeing and getting out with their families, who will benefit from the hard work of LOVEmyBEACH and the Turning Tides Partnership.

The partnership strives to keep bathing waters and beaches clean, meaning that in 2019, all 29 designated Bathing Waters in the North West met tough bathing water standards, showing how far the region has come.

Keith Ashcroft, Environment Agency Area Director said:

“In 1988 only 18% of North West Bathing Waters met the minimum standards which demonstrates the huge amount of work and investment which has gone into cleaning up our coast. Working alongside the Turning Tides partnership and LOVEmyBEACH supporters, our ambition is for North West bathing waters to be even cleaner and for our beaches to always meet and even go beyond, the standards.”

Before heading down to the beach, the public is advised to check the Environment Agency’s Swimfo website to check for any pollution risks as a result of rainfall, wind and high tides.

Last year, the North West coast was inundated with visitors who were unable to travel abroad because of the pandemic. While this is great news for local business and for people’s connection to nature, it also meant that the beaches suffered from people failing to take their litter home and there were also some safety concerns for people who were unfamiliar with tide times.

Richard McIlwain, Deputy CEO of Keep Britain Tidy and representative of the Turning Tides Partnership said:

“While we encourage people to come to the beaches in the North West, we ask that they consider their safety at all times and adhere to government guidance. We would also advise that they check local tide times on the council websites and look on the RNLI website for safety information.

“It is also crucial that when visiting the beach, people take a bag with them so that they can take their litter home or ensure that they leave it in one of the nearby bins. We would also ask that people don’t leave litter by a full bin and refrain from having BBQs on the beach as they can cause fires, which harms the delicate ecosystems on the coast and the wildlife that inhabit it.”

Another great year for the North West – Seaside Awards

The North West is celebrating another great year of Seaside Awards!

Keep Britain Tidy have today announced the winners of the prestigious Blue Flag and Seaside Awards.

In the North West, 11 beaches were awarded the Seaside Award and for the first time in England, a Blue Flag has been awarded to a marina at the Royal Albert and Salthouse Dock marina in Liverpool.

Seaside Awards were awarded to Morecambe North and South; St Annes Pier; Ferry Beach and Marine Beach in Fleetwood; Jubilee Beach in Cleveleys; Rossall Beach; Bispham; and Blackpool North, Central and South.

Zephie Begolo, Communications and Engagament Manager for the Turning Tides Partnership commented: “We are delighted to see so many of the beaches in the North West achieve these presitgious awards. This shows that our beaches are among some of the best in the world, thanks to the hard work of our partners and our wonderful volunteers who work so hard to keep our beaches clean and safe.”

This year, England can boast 76 Blue Flag beaches, more than Brazil, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Israel, Malta, Mexico or South Africa. In addition, 132 beaches have received a Seaside Award.

Every single one of them is on the ‘green list’ for this summer, proving that you don’t need to jet off to Europe or even further afield to visit some of the best beaches in the world – they’re right here on our doorstep!

Keep Britain Tidy Chief Executive, Allison Ogden-Newton OBE said: “This year, more than ever, we are going to be relying on our country’s beautiful beaches to escape for a much-needed break after all the stresses and strains of the past year.

“Last year, due to the pandemic, we did not have the opportunity to celebrate all the great award-winning beaches around the coast so this year we are delighted to have even more winners than we did in 2019, thanks to the incredible work of the teams around the country that make our beaches clean and safe for us all to enjoy.

“From environmental education for the local community and ensuring responsible beach use, to cleaning regimes and an increasing number of recycling facilities, it is a full-time commitment to create beaches worthy of these awards.

“As we all plan our 2021 holidays much closer to home, thanks to the Blue Flag and Seaside Award those choosing to holiday at a destination with an award-winning beach can be assured it will be clean and safe and meet the highest standards for water quality and management.”

A full list of England’s award-winning beaches is available here and Wales’ award winning beaches is viewable here

12 months on the Fylde Coast

As the financial year draws to a close, we reflect on what LOVEmyBEACH has achieved on the Fylde Coast in the last 12 months!

Our work towards cleaner and safer beaches has faced challenges this year. However we have adapted as best we can and still have a lot to celebrate!

Please take 5 minutes to read about our work from 2020-21 in the report below (just click the link):

Fylde BeachCare End Of Year Report 2020-21

We’d like to thank all our volunteers, partners and supporters for their hard work over the last 12 months. Without them LOVEmyBEACH would not be half as effective!

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Water quality

The Environment Agency monitors bathing waters – stretches of sea or lake where many people swim and paddle – to assess whether they meet the strict standards of the European Bathing Water Directive. The standards are set to protect public health and the environment from pollution.

The Environment Agency takes 20 water samples at each bathing water between May and September each year and post the information online: http://environment.data.gov.uk/bwq/profiles/

The samples are tested for certain types of bacteria: escherichia coli (E.coli) and intestinal enterococci, which are not directly harmful but indicate the presence of pollution. The bacteria are found in the intestines of animals and humans and pass through the body in poo. High levels of bacteria = poor water quality.

However, the water may be cleaner on the actual day you visit the beach, as the quality can change, particularly after heavy rain washes pollution into rivers and the sea. Look out for daily forecasts at some beaches.

Each beach is also given an annual classification. From 2015 this is based on sample results over the previous four years, e.g. 2015 results use data from 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. 2016 results use data from 2013 to 2016 and so on. The classifications are:

Excellent

The standard is the highest, cleanest class

Good

Generally good water quality

Sufficient

The water meets the minimum standards

Poor

Bathing is not advised at this beach as water quality has not met sufficient standards

If a bathing water is classed as Poor, you are advised not to bathe because samples taken over the previous four years have been affected by pollution. This does not mean the beach is closed – you can still enjoy everything the beach has to offer.

If a water sample has high levels of bacteria, analysis is done to estimate* the sources of pollution and work is planned in the area to improve water quality. When this work is significant and is expected to help improve bathing water quality, the four years of data for the annual classification starts from the time the work is completed and sample data from before the work are not included. This is called step change.

*Estimates are based on computer modelling, DNA analysis, and knowledge of the local area. The estimates can never be perfect because pollution to bathing waters changes from day to day depending on the season, the tides and the weather.