South West bathing waters are still among the cleanest in the country

The region also stands out nationally, with South West Water ranked as the second-best performer in England for maintaining and improving bathing water quality, achieving 100% bathing water compliance for the 5th consecutive year*.

This year, 13 bathing water sites across Devon and Cornwall have improved their ratings, following extensive testing by the Environment Agency. The sites achieving higher classifications are:

Sandy Bay, Dittisham, Millendreath, Par Sands, Porthluney, Swanpool, Maenporth, Marazion, Penzance, Wherry Town, Porthkidney Sands, Ilfracombe Hele and Polkerris.

These improvements come as South West Water continues to deliver an unprecedented £760 million investment programme to improve water quality and reduce the use of storm overflows over the next five years.

While many influences on bathing water quality such as agriculture, wildlife and climate-driven weather patterns remain a risk to water quality, South West Water says it is focused on the areas where it can make the biggest positive differences.

Richard Price, Managing Director of Wastewater Services, said:“We have some of the very best bathing waters in Europe here in the South West and we’re really pleased to see more beaches improving and 96.2% now rated Excellent or Good.

 We know a range of factors contribute to water quality, but we’re playing our part and more with a record-breaking £760 million investment to reduce the use of storm overflows and strengthen our wastewater network. Bathing water quality is a major priority for us.”

*this doesn’t include newly designated bathing waters which were designated last year by Defra – we are actively investigating these bathing waters to establish what is impacting the quality. All overflows impacting these areas will be improved as part of our record investment before 2028.