Bathing waters around Essex have been rated in ‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’ in annual results issued by the Environment Agency.
Twelve of the county’s 17 bathing hotspots achieved ‘Excellent’ water quality, up from nine in 2021. Earlier this year, Brightlingsea was among seven Essex beaches awarded Blue Flags by Keep Britain Tidy – indicating excellent bathing water quality, environmental education programmes and beach management.
Certain beaches and swimming areas are officially classed as bathing waters by the European Bathing Water Directive, which classifies each spot as ‘Excellent’, ‘Good’, ‘Sufficient’ or ‘Poor’. These classifications are based on water samples taken by the Environment Agency during the May to September bathing season. Statistics for Brightlingsea can be seen here.
Bathing waters are monitored for sources of pollution known to be a risk to bathers’ health, with up to 20 samples taken from each site during the bathing season. Each sample is tested for bacteria, specifically E coli and intestinal enterococci.
In addition, Anglian Water says it has improved sewerage infrastructure in and around bathing spots at Holland-on-Sea, Jaywick, Walton and Clacton Water Recycling Centres, as well as UV disinfection technology installed at West Mersea WRC.
The water company has also reduced its use of storm overflows on the Essex coastline, with a tunnel between Clacton Pier and Holland WRC redirecting storm water so it can be safely treated before being returned to the environment.
Environment Agency Chair Alan Lovell said: “Overall bathing water quality has improved massively over the last decade due to targeted and robust regulation from the Environment Agency and the work carried out by others. In most places it is now better than it has been for many years, but there is much more to be done to ensure cleaner and healthier waters for people to enjoy
He added: “Public confidence in our bathing waters is key to the tourism industry as well as people’s health and wellbeing.”
