Woolacombe Village
Overlooked by the South West Coast Path and edged with sand dunes, the 3-mile sandy beach at Woolacombe has superb views to Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel.
Lifeguards operate on the beach which makes it popular for kayaking, walking, swimming and kitesurfing as well as surfing.
Overflow 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.
Woolacombe Village storm overflow map
Water 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.
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 Woolacombe Beach, we have earmarked circa £250,000 of investment up to March 2025*.
By 2025 we are looking to reduce surface water entering the sewerage network from a range of potential sources. These could include highway or land drainage, groundwater infiltration, and in some cases streams. We are currently doing work to better understand what those sources are and the route through which they are entering the network. This will then allow us to further explore possible solutions.
Where there is surface or groundwater entering the sewer, we will work closely with local authorities to determine alternative drainage pathways for this water. Reducing non-sewage related wastewater from the network helps reduce the need for storm overflows to operate.
Once the excess water, such as rainwater or groundwater, have been removed from the network, a storm water tank will be needed near the pumping station.
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.
4 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woolacombe pumping station overflow | 94 | 29 | 43 | 103 |
More about what we're doing
The beach profiles were created in line with information provided by our partners, Environment Agency, RNLI, Keep Britain Tidy, MCS - Beach Guide and British Beaches.
