Today Defra has announced updated bathing water results. These show that for the first time1, 100% of the classified bathing waters in the South West have passed their stringent standards, with 98% rated as or ‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’, compared to c.28% in 1991.

There has been significant investment in infrastructure and partnership work which has delivered some of the best bathing waters in Europe. South West Water’s ‘Clean Sweep’ project resolved the legacy practice of discharging untreated raw sewage into the sea by creating new infrastructure across the region. This, alongside sustained partnership work and continued investment, has significantly improved bathing waters across the region.

Susan Davy, Chief Executive Officer for Pennon, which owns South West Water, said:

“Today’s announcement is a milestone moment as our region’s beaches proudly take their place as amongst the best in Europe. This is as a result of significant, targeted investment and decades of partnership work, meaning residents and millions of visitors each year can safely enjoy the bathing spots right across our 860 miles of beautiful coastline.

“This is the first time under the latest standards that we have had 100% bathing water quality, and we intend to keep it this way. However, I recognise that we must go further and not only build on and maintain the progress we have delivered on bathing water quality, alongside tackling our impact on river water quality. We are committed to reducing our impact on rivers by one third by 2025 and will go further as we run pilots to help understand the wider influences on water quality in our region so we can deliver the lasting change and improvements we all want to see.”

South West Water has 19,000 kilometres of combined sewage and surface water network which has been maintained and improved. The network includes a number of storm overflows which are triggered at times of network pressure and heavy rainfall and release excess volume to avoid houses and businesses being flooded.

The organisation recognises the need to resolve the legacy of combined storm overflows building on the success of the coastal investment in the South West. This will be delivered through further investment in its infrastructure while harnessing nature-based solutions and partnership work. Its pioneering catchment management programme, Upstream Thinking, is already active in 80% of the region, working with 1,700 farms and it has already restored c. 91,000 hectares of land, and there are plans to do more.

South West Water has announced that it plans to reduce its impact on river quality by one third by 2025. The company is also running pilot schemes in the Rivers Dart and Tavy measuring the whole river health, which will also help identify what may be required to work with others to achieve designated bathing water status.

With around ten million tourists visiting the South West each year, delivering safe and clean bathing waters is extremely important to the region’s economy.

Malcolm Bell, CEO Visit Cornwall and Chair of the BeachWise Forum for the South West Region said;

“The far South West is renowned for its amazing coast line and beaches and they are the major draw for visitors to this wonderful region and that is why it is great news to see the best results ever for 2021 with 100% of bathing waters passing these high standards. This is credit to South West Water and their Clean Sweep programme and ongoing actions, together with actions taken by Local Authorities and land owners. I know that all the partners who have worked hard to achieve these results will not be resting on their laurels and will continue to work hard to not only maintain but continually improve matters.” 

1 2021 will be the first time 100% of the monitored bathing waters in the SWW region have reached the tighter standards introduced by Government under the 2006 EU directive, which came into effect in 2015.