Plan to end fixed ‘season’ for water quality tests to protect winter swimmers

The fixed summer “season” for monitoring water quality at official bathing waters could be removed in recognition of the growing trend for cold water swimming, under Government plans.

The change forms part of a proposed shake-up of the system for monitoring officially designated outdoor swimming sites, which could also see the definition of “bathers” expanded to include paddle boarders and surfers, and testing water quality at multiple points in a site.

The consultation on the rules for the more than 550 designated bathing waters in England and Wales is the latest action by the Government in response to widespread public anger about the polluted state of the nation’s rivers, lakes and seas.

The current system is not working for all those who use and enjoy our bathing waters, and reform is long overdue

Officials said the reforms, put out for consultation by the Environment Department (Defra) and the Welsh Government, would benefit cold water swimmers and other water sports enthusiasts.

Bathing waters are officially designated sites, which are monitored by the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales through the swimming season, which runs from May to September.

Annual ratings classify each site as excellent, good, sufficient or poor, while water quality data is updated and pollution risk forecasts can be issued during the season.

But the system has been criticised for failing to recognise that people increasingly enjoy using coastal and inland bathing spots outside of the summer months, at times when the water quality could be lower than the ratings suggest, exposing swimmers to pollution and health risks.

So the proposals include removing the fixed bathing water season dates from the regulations, allowing more flexibility for sites to be monitored in ways that reflect when people are using them.

They also include expanding the legal definition of bathers to include people taking part in water sports other than swimming, such as paddle boarding and surfing, to improve the focus on safety for those water users.

And there could be more focus on whether a site, such as a river wild swimming spot, could reasonably be brought to sufficient standard of water quality, before it is designated, to better target investment into the provision of bathing waters.

And the plans include ending the automatic “de-designation” of bathing water status after five consecutive years of a site being rated “poor”, which officials said could damage local tourism and businesses.

Instead underperforming sites will be individually reviewed by regulators, although the plans would not allow designated waters to continue failing indefinitely.

Water Minister Emma Hardy said: “Bathing water sites are the pride of local communities across the country.

“But the current system is not working for all those who use and enjoy our bathing waters, and reform is long overdue.

“That is why this Government will give more people the opportunity to experience the benefits of our beautiful waters and connect with nature.”

The consultation has been broadly welcomed by campaigners, with River Action’s Amy Fairman describing it as “a welcome step from the Government to extend bathing water sites across the country, including extending water testing year-round and reframing ‘bathing waters’ to ‘recreational waters’”.

But she warned that water company permits must be reviewed to increase water quality standards or “they will continue to pollute for profit”.

Mark Lloyd, chief executive of The Rivers Trust, said: “Our rivers, lakes and beaches are a fantastic natural resource which should be available for people to enjoy confidently for their mental and physical wellbeing as well as providing opportunities for economic growth.

“We are particularly pleased to see the ending of automatic de-designation for waters which failed to meet standards after five years – the focus must be on driving improvements in our natural environment and not giving up when it gets hard.”

Surfers Against Sewage’s Giles Bristow said the bathing water designation process needed “radical reform”: “We welcome this vital consultation but a glaring omission is the monitoring of emerging pollutants, like PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), that are harmful to human health.”

He added: “The reform of the regulations must set the course for all waterways that are used recreationally to be designated – designation means monitoring and transparency is a must if we are to navigate our way out of the dirty waters of the sewage scandal.”