Water firms muck up our top beaches
BLUE FLAG RISK AT SEWAGE-HIT COASTAL SPOTS
MANY of our “cleanest” beaches could lose their prized Blue Flag status after being polluted with raw sewage.
Official figures show the once-spotless coastlines were soiled with human waste a shocking 1,719 times last year. The findings were branded “extremely worrying” by the international body that hands out Blue Flags.
Blue Flag director Johann Durand warned he could be forced to strip the beaches of their titles.
He said: “The situation regarding raw sewage being dumped is extremely worrying. Everyone should be able to enjoy safe and healthy waters.
“The renewal of the Blue
Flag award is not automatic. The time frame to apply for the award for the 2023 season will open soon and all data from the previous season will be checked.
“If sites do not comply with the bathing water criteria, this can have an impact on the receipt of the
Blue Flag.”
The most-polluted beach was Poppit Sands in Pembrokeshire, Wales, where sewage was dumped 79 times for 1,519 hours in 2021. In second was Sandown on the Isle of Wight, with 79 discharges lasting 1,295 hours.
Other badly-affected beaches included Brighton, Scarborough and Whitstable, according to Environment Agency figures.
An Environment Agency spokesman said: “We are pushing water companies to improve water quality.”