Published: 26/01/2022
COPELAND'S coastline has been recognised for its safe, clean swimming water once again.
St Bees and Silecroft both received an ‘excellent’ water quality rating, which is the highest possible, and Seascale and Haverigg’s waters were both deemed ‘good’.
These findings help to reassure both locals and visitors that swimming and other water sports in Copeland’s coastal waters will be safe and enjoyable.
The bathing water classifications are based on monitoring data collected by the Environment Agency in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021.
Councillor Andy Pratt, the Portfolio Holder for Environmental Health, said: ‘we are delighted with the classifications awarded to our beautiful coastlines. It’s great news for our tourism industry that the beaches can be enjoyed in confidence.’
The annual rating is based on an average over four years, and the four possible classifications are excellent, good, sufficient and poor.
Bathing waters in England have been monitored by the Environment Agency since the 1990s. Since then, the overall percentage of bathing waters meeting the highest standards has increased from 28 percent to 70.7 percent.
Councils must display information showing the water quality during the bathing season, which runs from May 15 to September 30.
More information about designated bathing waters and how they are tested can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bathing-waters.
