Water watch

IF anything, you'd have thought the belting rainstorms that we suffered throughout most of last August would have made our beaches cleaner rather than dirtier.

Wrong. Instead of washing beaches clean, frequent heavy rainstorms of the kind we saw last summer simply wash more raw sewage and agricultural run-off into the sea.

The result: the number of beaches failing European water quality tests doubled last year - bucking a trend of steady improvements over the previous eight years.

According to the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), which compiles the annual Good Beach Guide, 52 beaches in the UK failed to meet even minimum European standards on water quality last summer - up from 26 in the previous year.

One of them was our own Staithes beach. A number of other popular Yorkshire beaches - including all three Scarborough beaches, as well as Filey and Robin Hood's Bay - achieved only 'basic passes', indicating that they reached only the statutory minimum standard required by the EU.

Scarborough's North Bay, Filey, Whitby and Sandsend, meanwhile, all saw the quality of their water fall from the year before, while still meeting at least minimum EC standards.

The Marine Conservation Society has laid the blame for the general drop in the quality of our coastal water squarely at the door of the weather. "The Met Office issued 100 flash weather warnings in August alone, and big storms produce poor water quality," said spokesman Thomas Bell.

The problem, explains Sam Fanshawe, the MCS's director of conservation, is that sudden heavy rainstorms tend to overwhelm sewage systems. As well as sewage from homes and businesses, sewage treatment plants suddenly have to cope with run off from roads and fields as well.

"If there is too much volume of water, that will overwhelm the sewage treatment plant, and it will start to back up into people's homes," she explains.

Rather than have that happen, water bosses have little option but to release diluted raw sewage into the sea. It is this, along with direct run-off from agricultural land that may be polluted with fertiliser or animal waste, that harms the quality of our coastal waters.

The Marine Conservation Society's advice to holidaymakers is not to swim at beaches which have failed water quality tests. If you do, the charity says, you risk putting yourself at risk of stomach upsets and infections such as gastroenteritis.

"We don't want to scaremonger or stop people going to the sea," Mrs Fanshawe says. "But we do want people to be aware of the quality of water they swim in. A lot of people will be particularly concerned, not necessarily for themselves but for their children, who spend a lot of time in the water and are constantly swallowing gallons of the stuff. We want to inform them as to where and when to bathe."

If you are thinking of taking advantage of half term to head off to the beach this week, our graphic opposite shows all the Yorkshire beaches, and how they were rated.

Despite the gloomy news overall, the fact remains that all but one of our Yorkshire beaches (Staithes) did meet minimum European water quality standards. Eight actually received the highest water quality rating, in the form of a Good Beach Guide recommendation - only three fewer than the year before, despite the heavy rains. These 'recommended' beaches were mainly beaches near Hull, such as Hornsea and Tunstall. However, Skipsea and Barmston beaches near Bridlington, Bridlington's own north beach, Danes Dyke beach at Flamborough and Cayton Bay between Filey and Scarborough all earned top ratings too. Whitby and Reighton beaches, while not MSC recommended, both reached EC Guideline standard - a mark of 'good water quality'.

It is also worth remembering that the tests on which the new edition of the Good Beach Guide is based were taken last year. The guide is, therefore, a reflection of the quality of our coastal waters in 2004 rather than today. The MCS admits that within a few days of heavy rainfall causing pollution levels in coastal waters to rise, those pollution levels - mainly bacteria - begin to fall again.

Nevertheless, in this year's guide Yorkshire beaches perform comparatively poorly compared to those in Lincolnshire, almost every one of which achieves 'recommended' status.

Yorkshire tourism and water bosses were putting a brave face on, however.

Yorkshire Water points out that it has spent over £120 million on state-of-the-art treatment facilities boasting ultra-violet disinfection at Whitby, Filey, Scarborough and Bridlington. Smaller plants have also been built in Staithes - where there is a particular problem caused by, among other things, run-off from agricultural land - Runswick Bay, Sandsend, Robin Hood's Bay, Hornsea and Withernsea.

"Last summer has clearly had a terrible impact on bathing water in the UK," admitted Yorkshire water's Graham Dixon.

"But our investment in the sewerage infrastructure has undoubtedly helped to protect Yorkshire beaches from a similar fate."

Steve Sawyer, tourism manager for East Riding of Yorkshire Council, also insisted Yorkshire had by-and-large bucked the national downwards trend in water quality.

His council was 'delighted' that so many beaches within its area had received 'recommended' status, he said - the gold standard of water quality.

Coun David Jeffels, cabinet member for tourism on Scarborough Borough Council, said the weather conditions last year were to blame for the fact that the water quality at Scarborough's North Bay and at Whitby had fallen back slightly from the previous year.

But much depended on the weather conditions at the time readings were taken, and overall the trend in water quality was upwards, he said.

It may be that Yorkshire could learn lessons from Lincolnshire, he conceded.

"We definitely maintain that our beaches are safe, and that people can bathe in them with confidence. They are far superior to those in many of the well-known holiday spots in the Mediterranean.

"The water there looks lovely and blue, but if you look at it closely there are all sorts of unmentionables in there."

Best and worst beaches

Best beaches

Marine Conservation Society

recommended

- Cayton Bay

- Barmston

- Bridlington South

- Flamborough Danes Dyke

Hornsea and Hornsea South

Skipsea

Tunstall

Worst beach

Staithes

Flags and whistle-blowers

The Good Beach Guide is based on water samples taken by Environment Agency officials. As many as 20 samples are taken for each beach between May and September.

European standards are based on levels of bacteria (mainly from sewage) found in the sea-water tested.

To obtain a Marine Conservation Society Recommendation - the highest water quality rating - every one of the 20 samples must have had fewer than 500 bacteria in every 100 ml of water: a close to 'zero tolerance' approach.

The basic EU standard is 20 times less rigorous - water samples must have fewer than 10,000 bacteria in every 100ml.

In the UK as a whole, over 800 beaches were monitored for this year's Good Beach Guide.

More than half achieved the highest 'recommended' rating, with the South West having the cleanest beaches. Of the North East's 68 beaches, however, fewer than half - just 26 - were 'recommended'.

Overall, in the latest addition of the guide, the number of beaches recommended has fallen for the first time since 1997.

The MCS Good Beach Guide is just one of four beach award schemes operated in the UK - although it is the one with the most stringent requirements on water quality.

The Blue Flag scheme is a European award for well-managed resort beaches that achieve EC Guideline standards on water quality - a standard slightly less rigorous than the Good Beach Guide 'recommended' standard.

The Green Coast Award is for well-managed beaches which include community involvement and where bathing water also meets the EC Guideline standard.

The Seaside Award is a UK award for well-maintained resort and rural beaches that pass the lower EC basic standard on water quality.

Updated: 08:58 Tuesday, May 31, 2005