Clean Beaches

Practicalities Types of Holiday Beach and Coastal Clean Beaches 

Europe

Bathing water standards in Europe appear to be rather higher than in the UK. For example in 2000, 95.8% of designated bathing waters met the EC Guideline standards. In Italy the figure was 92.5%, in Spain 87.8%, and in Germany 82.6%. Although judging only ‘designated bathing waters' of course leaves statistics open to manipulation.

European Union

Run by the EU, covers all beaches in the EC and the standards they have met. Some of the final detail links seem to be missing but this does include a tourist atlas of tourist beaches which provides some outline useful info.

Tidy Britain Group

Seaside Award and Blue Flag Office, 5 Chalk Hill House, 19 Rosary Road, Norwich NR1 1SZ
tel: 01603 766 076

For details of the European Blue Flag beaches and marinas send a 57p A4 SAE or see the web site.

UK

An estimated 200 to 300 million gallons of sewage are pumped into the seasaround the UK daily so British water is a lot dirtier than it should be. In 2000 only around half of UK beaches met the EU Guideline standards for bathing water quality. Providing more information on the subject are:

Marine Conservation Society

9 Gloucester Road, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire HR9 5BU
tel: 01989 566017

The organisation compiles data collected by the Environment Agency in England and Wales and equivalent organisations in Scotland, Northern Ireland etc. It also checks where UK water companies discharge sewage and what treatment is provided at these outlets. On the basis of this information the society compiles an annual report on pollution-free beaches, recommending only those which reach the EC guideline standard for water quality, currently the highest used.

In 2001 the Good Beach Guide recommended 275 beaches as having achieved the EC guidline standard, 60 more than in 2000. The web site gives details on facilities, amenities, activities, disabled access and bathing safety for all recommended beaches, including a map.

There are also full listings for over 1,000 beaches, nearby sewage outfalls and water quality results.

A hard copy of the Good Beach Guide is available at £3 (plus 50p p&p) from all branches of Cheltenham and Gloucester and MCS.

The Society's awards are the only ones which can be considered independent as the organisation is funded purely by public membership, donations, and organisations like English Nature.

Surfers Against Sewage

Rural Workshops, Wheal Kitty, St Agnes, Cornwall TR5 0RD
tel: 01872 553001

Surfers spend longer in seawater than almost any other kind of bather and so are particularly at risk from the many bacteria and viruses including for example hepatitis which can survive in seawater for up to 100 days. The organisation states that ‘There are few regular surfers who have not been seriously sick at some time as a result of picking up a bug or virus in the sea.' Founded in 1990 the organisation now advises government and water companies, as well as campaigning for improvement in water quality.

The organisation points out that the current minimum standard for a bathing beach is anything less than 2,000 ‘faecal coliforms' (organisms used to indicate the presence of sewage) per 100ml. It also reports that 86% of cases on its database or reported sickness come from people using beaches that meet this standard.

If you ring the organisation it can give details of beaches which are particularly polluted with risk of bacterial or viral infection such as salmonella and campylobacter, the second being the most common bug causing stomach upsets in the water which can also survive in sand. Surfers Against Sewage can also report on the type of sewage treatment there is at any specified beach and any sewage outfalls affecting that beach.

The Environment Agency

Millbank Tower, 25th Floor, 21-24 Millbank, London SW1P 4XL
tel: Enquiry Line (0845) 933 311 Emergency Hotline (0800) 80 70 60
Floodline (0845) 988 1188

The web site offers regularly up-dated reports on bathing water quality at 472 sites around England and Wales, tested on average once a week 1 May to 30 September. Results are up-dated weekly on the back yard sections which cover specific areas of Britain, including some inland waters like lakes (in 2000 including Cotswold Water Lake Park, Frensham Great Pond, Windermere Fellfoot, Windermere Millerround Landing and Windermere, lakeside YMCA).

The agency also runs for example beach surveys [www.environment-agency.gov.uk/helpus] in conjunction with members of the public.

‘The agency investigates possible sources of contamination at all non-compliant bathing waters with a view to controlling them where statutory powers allow.' The agency is also taking part in trials designed to contribute to future proposals for a revision of the European Bathing Water Directive.

The Tidy Britain Group

Seaside Award and Blue Flag
5 Chalk Hill House, 19 Rosary Road, Norwich NR1 1SZ
tel: 01603 766076

Administers the UK Seaside Awards and British side of the Blue Flag Awards for beaches and marinas. For details of the latest UK Seaside Award and Blue Flag beaches send a 41p SAE or visit the web sites.

Blue Flag Awards are available only for resort beaches and to qualify, in addition to a beach passing the minimum EC requirements for bathing water, it must provide good safety measures and supervision, and put in place beach management measures including dog controls and facilities for disabled visitors at resort beaches. They must also provide clear information to the public.

Both the Marine Conservation Society and Surfers Against Sewage express reservations about both these awards. They point out that the UK Seaside Awards only require beaches to attain the lower Mandatory Bathing Water standards. This is reported to be around 20 times lower than the Guideline standards.

Surfers Against Sewage argues that the Tidy Britain awards are more concerned with the cosmetics. ‘The absence of litter on beaches, provision of rubbish bins and ironically even the location of toilet facilities, was given a higher priority than bathing water quality.' It also notes that a number of resorts still managed to get a Seaside Award flag, despite a decline in water quality from the previous year.

The Marine Conservation Society also feels that charging an application fee to resorts has also detracted from the independence of the choices.

Further British Schemes

In Wales the Green Sea Partnership of around 40 organisations including government agencies, local authorities and the voluntary sector, looks not just at resort beaches but also at rural beaches and in conjunction with the tidy Britain Group has developed the Green Coast Award for beaches without infrastructure but high environmental quality. There are also awards to rural beaches which only achieve mandatory bathing water quality.

An annual booklet, Award Winning Welsh Beaches and Marinas, describes each beach which has received an award and details its water quality history. Copies are available from the Welsh Tourist Board (029) 20 475 226. The partnership is working on a web site of its own. For the moment information is available at VisitWales under View of Wales Beaches and Coastline which is under Visitor Information.

A scheme covering rural beaches in a similar way is also planned for England.

Flags

Look out for flags indicating the cleanliness of beaches and sea water. The Seaside Awards flag is yellow with a blue corner. The EC Blue Flag beach flag is blue.

USA

Dr Beach

Compiled by Dr Leatherman since 1990, are annual best beach awards for the country. As one of the nation's leading coastal experts he is popularly known as Dr Beach. Previous winners are excluded from each year's survey and the majority so far have been in Hawaii and Florida. The site includes information from the healthy Beaches Campaign and encourages reports on the state of beaches, particularly on the effects of coastal storms.