Bathing Water Quality at Dawlish Warren
A new European Directive
A new European Directive is introducing more stringent standards for bathing water quality. The change was needed as the current standards are almost 30 years old
The new standards will need to be met by 2015. The revised bathing water directive changes assessment from a pass/fail approach to a system of classification. Bathing waters will be awarded one of the following classifications: Poor, Sufficient ,Good, Excellent.
Bathing water will be classified based on a 4 year microbiological water sampling programme. The sampling programme which will be used to award the classification started in 2012. Therefore the first beach classifications will be awarded at the end of the 2015 bathing water season. The bathing water season runs from 15th May-30 September. Bathing water quality is assessed on bacteria levels in the sea (E.coli and intestinal enterococci specifically!)
So what does this mean?
Based on historical information and water sampling results it has been possible to predict the classifications which will be awarded to our beaches. You will be pleased to know that Dawlish Warren will still be classified as excellent. This is something we should all be really proud about as the new directive is more stringent and higher standards are now required. The excellent classification is approximately twice as stringent as the current excellent standard!
How you can help us
However to ensure that we keep Dawlish Warren as an excellent bathing water quality beach we all need to work together. It is important to obey the dog byelaws which at Dawlish Warren means no dogs allowed on the beach from groyne 1- 3 from 1st April to 30th September. It is also important to not feed the seagulls and ensure that all litter is placed in bins.
To find out how these issue relate to bathing water quality and to find out what else you can do to help look at the following websites: