Defra and the Welsh Assembly Government have published proposals today for delivering improved bathing water quality under the revised Bathing Water Directive. Views on these proposals are sought as part of a consultation which runs until 4 February 2008.

The Directive will deliver significant environmental and public health benefits. It sets more stringent microbiological water quality standards for popular bathing areas, and requires improved public information about sites, including advice against bathing where the minimum standard is not met. It introduces four new water quality classifications – excellent, good, sufficient and poor. All bathing waters in Europe, with some limited exceptions, must achieve at least the sufficient standard by 2015.

Publishing the consultation, Environment Minister Phil Woolas said:

“England achieved its highest ever bathing water quality results in 2006, with 99.5% of sites meeting mandatory standards, and 75% meeting the tighter guideline standards. This is an improvement since 1997 of 11.5 and 40 percentage points respectively.

“The tighter standards under the revised Directive mean we have got to be even more ambitious, and there will be significant benefits for all of us in delivering these improvements. I would encourage everyone with a role in water quality or an interest in the bathing water around our coasts to get involved and make their views known.

To meet these new standards, Defra and WAG have identified three scenarios for implementing the Directive:Meeting the minimum requirements, with all bathing waters reaching at least sufficient status by 2015;

Meeting the minimum requirements, but with the use of a ‘prediction and discounting’ system. This would provide additional protection to bathers by requiring local authorities and operators of private sites to provide advice against bathing where the Environment Agency has identified waters which may be subject to short term pollution; and

Going beyond the minimum requirements. This scenario could increase the number of Blue Flag beaches, which are seen as a valuable tourist attraction.

An impact assessment of the costs and benefits of the three scenarios finds that less than 10% of bathing waters need improvement to meet the new standards, annual costs over 25 years of implementing the changes are considerably lower than the £2bn spent by the water industry to meet the existing standards and costs of further water quality improvements would fall to the water industry, agriculture and other parties. Improvement measures will fall primarily on farmers to reduce diffuse water pollution from agriculture, on water companies to provide additional sewage treatment and reduce combined sewer overflows, and on water companies and local authorities to reduce urban diffuse pollution for example by addressing sewer misconnections.