10 Tips for a Plastic-Free Christmas!

Christmas can be a time of excess – including plastic! Whether it’s toys, wrapping paper or food containers, plastic is everywhere at this time of year! Protect your ocean, beach and wildlife by have a plastic-free Christmas. Here are a few tips on how to do it: 1. Wrapping paper Most wrapping paper actually contains plastic and can’t be recycled..

Leave only paw prints!

It's official! The bathing water season is over! This may be sad news for swimmers and it means that we have to finally admit that summer is over, but it's good news for our furry friends who are now allowed back on the beaches! Dog bans are in place on many beaches along the North West coast during the bathing water season, but once it's over, we can start walking our pooch..

We have won £2k from Tesco Bags of Help!

LOVEmyBEACH is delighted to announce it has bagged £2,000 from Tesco’s Bags of Help community grant scheme. Bags of Help is run in partnership with environmental charity Groundwork, and sees grants awarded to thousands of local community projects every year. Since launching in 2015, it’s provided more than £79 million to over 26,000 local community projects. Million..

Show Water Some Love!

Water is the stuff of life, but how often do any of us really think about it? That’s all set to change this month with the launch of the Love Water campaign on 31st July. The campaign is led by a coalition of over 40 organisations including LOVEmyBEACH, the Environment Agency, Water UK, National Farmer’s Union (NFU), World Wildlife Fund (WWF), water companies and othe..

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Hightown beach clean

December 8, 2019

Recent tweets

RT @FyldeBeachCare: This #InternationalVolunteerDay we'd like to thank all our fantastic beach clean heroes To the weekly & monthly… https://t.co/PDHN69cLJs 3 days
Protect our oceans and wildlife by having a #plasticfree #Christmas! Check out our top tips for reducing #plastic t… https://t.co/WMd0cikyrZ 4 days
#Plasticpollution is on the rise thanks to #bagsforlife much of the plastic we use ends up in our rivers and ocea… https://t.co/wD53ydFwFl 1 week
RT @KeepBritainTidy: We have released our new Manifesto for a Cleaner and Greener Country; our challenge to the next government to tackl… https://t.co/C0GhNTjbQK 1 week

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.