Excellent or good bathing water quality standards have been met at 90% of beaches and swimming sites in England, down from 93% last year.
Minimum standards were achieved at 96% of all bathing sites. This was also down slightly from 97% last year.
Of the predominately coastal locations, 282 were rated as excellent, 100 were classified as good, 25 were deemed sufficient and 18 were judged as having poor water quality.
Ilkely Wharf, the first designated inland bathing site was among those that failed to meet the Environment Agency’s standards. Local water company Yorkshire Water has directed £13 million of investment to the wastewater networks close to the site since it was designated in 2021.
The Environment Agency (EA) routinely monitors more than 400 locations over the summer season for sources of pollution that could cause health problems.
The slight decline in good or excellent water quality at designated sites regularly used by swimmers was attributed by the EA to an “unseasonably wet summer causing run-off” into waters.
The agency’s chair, Alan Lovell, said: “While overall bathing water quality has improved over the last decade due to targeted investment, robust regulation from the Environment Agency and work carried out by partners, these results show there is significant work still to do to ensure the quality of our bathing waters is increasing every year.
“The slight fall in standards this year show we must go further to drive improvements and that this takes time and investment. That’s why we are strengthening our regulation and working with the water sector, farmers, industry, and others to help them put the environment at the heart of their activities and improve our bathing waters for all.”
Despite the year-on-year fall, bathing water quality has been trending upwards in recent decades. As few as 28% of sites were rated as good or excellent in 1990s but by 2010 this rate had risen to 76%.
According to the EA, water companies have spent £30 billion upgrading wastewater infrastructure and treatment processes to meet higher environmental standards for bathers since they privatisation in 1989.
The publication of government’s Plan for Water together with the Storm overflows discharge reduction plan will see further improvements to networks, including extra capacity and nature-based options to slow the flow of surface water and enhance the quality of treated effluent.