green circleFistral North

Fistral is considered to be the UK’s leading surfing beach. Commonly split into two halves, North Fistral and South Fistral. The beach is long, straight and sandy backed by steep sand dunes and overlooked by the iconic Headland Hotel.

The Cribbar, a reef at the northern end, is widely considered to be Cornwall’s top big wave spot with rideable waves reaching forty feet.

green circleOverflow locations

The map below shows the locations of the storm overflows that have the potential to impact water quality at this bathing water.

The map shows whether or not a storm overflow is currently active, the time and duration of the last spill at that location, and our investment commitments that are specific to that overflow.

Fistral North storm overflow map

green circleWater quality sample results

The graphs below show the significant reduction in harmful bacteria in the Environment Agency’s (EA) water samples since the 1990s. E. coli and  Intestinal Enterococci exist in all open water - they are found in human and animal poo, and get into the water via sewage spills, road drainage, agricultural livestock, or wildlife and birds. The EA uses the levels of these bacteria to decide whether to award this beach bathing water status.

Working together to keep our network flowing

We’re on a mission to stop sewer misuse. So, we’re working with councils and community groups to raise awareness and protect our beautiful rivers and beaches. Watch our short film about what we did in Newquay. If you want us to do something similar in your area, please get in touch.

green circle 2025-2030 investment programme

To help reduce the risk of environmental impact from our sewerage network, and to contribute towards improving bathing water quality at Fistral North, we have earmarked circa £300,000 of investment up to March 2025*.

Work to replace and redirect the rising main (the pressurised sewer pipe) from Crantock pumping station has recently been completed and wastewater from this pumping station now goes directly to Newquay sewage treatment works. 

We are also upgrading the storm overflow screen at Yellow Sands pumping station and increasing the level of the overflow to maximise use of the storage tunnel within the network, without increasing flood risk. We anticipate that this will improve overflow performance at both Yellow Sands pumping station overflow and Towan Head pumping station overflow. The screen upgrade is due to be completed in 2023.

We are also looking to invest in 2025-2030 to improve the performance of our wastewater network further.

The 2025-2030 investment programme is currently being scoped out. If you’re a community group or part of a local network and would like to have your say see ‘Your Beach, Your Say, Our Investment’.

*Amounts earmarked for investment may change dependent on the final design of the optimal solution and costings provided by our supply chain.

green circle4 year overflow spill information

The data shown in the table below is the reported annual total spill number for each overflow which has been identified by the EA for this bathing water.

The assignment of an overflow to the bathing water does not always mean an impact will occur, it can be dependent on a number of factors such as tidal state and weather conditions. Sometimes it has been allocated just for investigation purposes and has no impact at all.

All data collected goes through vigorous quality assurance processes before being included in the counts. Sometimes debris can trigger false spills to be recorded, resulting in potentially higher than actual spill numbers.

Number of spills

  2023 2022 2021 2020
Towan Head pumping station overflow, Newquay 30 25 33 23
Yellow Sands pumping station overflow, Newquay 32 23 31 24
Picture of a blue Cornish beach

Tell us about your beach

We're inviting local community and stakeholder groups to work with us, as we consider where we need to prioritise our investment for 2025.

Your Beach, Your Say, Our Investment
Picture of a dark storm over some hills

More about storm overflows

We know that as a water company, we have a big part to play in improving our network and reducing the number of discharges. We also know there's lots more work to do.

Find out more

The beach profiles were created in line with information provided by our partners, Environment AgencyRNLIKeep Britain TidyMCS - Beach Guide and British Beaches.

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