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Be a good egg this Easter!

This Easter, people across the country will be preparing a delicious roast dinner for the family. Thousands of families will also be putting on their wellies and visiting their local beach for the fresh sea air and to walk off their dinner and maybe a few Easter eggs.

Did you know that by not cleaning up after your roast dinner properly you could be damaging the water quality at your local beach?

If you pour used cooking fat, meat juices or leftover food down the sink (even with hot water and washing up liquid) the fat soon sets hard in the cold pipes. When it mixes with other unflushable items, such as wet wipes and sanitary products, it creates what is known as a ‘fatberg’.

Recent news headlines have shown just how monstrous the fatbergs beneath our feet can become. South West Water discovered a 64 metre-long fatberg in Sidmouth, Devon, while United Utilities came across an 80 metre long fatberg beneath the streets of Liverpool. And who can forget the discovery in 2017 of the Whitechapel Fatberg weighing in at 130 tonnes and measuring 250 metres in length?

Diets and lifestyles have changed dramatically since the first sewers were built in the 19^th century. As fatty and fast food consumption has increased, so has the fat in our sewers. Fatbergs clog sewerage pipes and stop the waste water reaching the treatment works as intended. This means the risk of sewage spilling out into homes, streets, rivers and seas is substantially increased.

This Easter we’re asking people to be a good egg and help keep beaches and seas clean by making sure all leftover cooking fats and oils are put in the food waste recycling or bin rather than poured down the sink.

Here’s some simple steps you can follow:

Scrape or pour leftover fat from roasting trays and pans into a heat resistant container then recycle or bin it once cooled
Wipe out grease left in pans with kitchen roll before washing
Use a sink strainer to catch any greasy food scraps

#Binit4beaches

Remember only rain goes down the drain!

Have you ever seen someone pour paint or oil down the drain in the street, or maybe flick a cigarette butt through the grate?

Acts like this may seem harmless but they can have a devastating impact on our rivers and seas and can even harm wildlife.

At a time when people are looking ahead to spring and thinking about having a bit of a clear out, it’s important to recognise that the most outdoor drains lead directly to watercourses and seas, and shouldn’t be used as a means for disposing of waste liquids.

This month LOVEmyBEACH is supporting #Binit4beaches with only #RainDownTheDrain to encourage people to reuse, recycle or safely dispose of waste liquids to ensure rivers, streams and seas are protected.

The drains which are connected to your toilet or washing machine carry the dirty, waste water to treatment works where processes are applied to clean the water and release it safely back into the natural environment.

In contrast, outdoor drains are designed to carry ONLY rainwater, usually to the nearest river, stream or sea. As the water is 100% natural rainwater there is no requirement to send it with the dirty water that comes from our homes to a waste treatment works, instead it travels directly into our rivers and seas.

That’s why it’s so important that pollutants such as engine oil, cooking oil, paints and chemical wastes are never poured down the drain. Instead, take unwanted items to your household recycling centre to be disposed of safely.

Misconnected premises can also pollute rivers and seas by allowing the dirty water from household appliances to enter watercourses instead of going down the foul sewer and arriving at treatment works. Check your property is connected right by visiting www.connectright.org

Help protect the health and wellbeing of our rivers and seas and #binit4beaches #YearofGreenAction

Join our newest beach clean group

The sea defence works are finished and the brilliant new promenade between Rossall beach and Fleetwood is open. This calls for a new beach clean group to be set up! LOVEmyBEACH is supporting Wyre Council and the local community, who want to ensure people can enjoy this wonderful stretch of coastline throughout the year.

Everyone is welcome to join and this will be a brilliant opportunity to help form a new beach clean group. You’ll have the chance to make new friends, do something great for the environment and feel the benefits of getting outside, whilst doing something active. Plus you’ll enjoy the beautiful surroundings of Larkholme Grasslands and the Irish Sea!

If you want to join us, we will meet one Sunday a month at 10:30am at Larkholme Parade and the very first clean up is on 27^th January 2019. Future dates and more details can be found on our Volunteering page.

Hopefully see you there!

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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.