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  1. Published on: 20/05/2016 10:53 AMReported by: roving-eye
    Ahead of the summer months, Sefton Council can officially announce that all the designated bathing waters in the borough have met the higher water quality standards.



    Bathing water season runs from May 15 – September 30 and is when the Environment Agency tests the water each week for levels of bacteria.

    Below is some handy information to help you understand bathing water classifications:

    • Sefton’s bathing water quality classifications against the stricter standards:

    Formby is excellent: the highest classification
    Southport and Ainsdale are classified as good
    Note: Crosby is not a designated bathing beach in respect of the bathing water regulations and the water quality is not monitored.

    • The bathing beaches on the Sefton Coast have all improved considerably over the last 20 years due to the considerable investment from United Utilities. A new approach to monitoring water quality over a four year average and more recent investment at Preston on the River Ribble should see further improvements at Southport and Ainsdale.

    An RNLI Lifeguard patrolled bathing zone is in place at Ainsdale May to Sept and at Lifeboat Road, Formby during the school holidays.

    • Sefton Council is a member of the Turning Tides Partnership and supports the award winning LOVEmyBEACH campaign working with businesses, communities and farmers to look after seas and lakes.

    • Even where it meets the higher standards, water quality can be reduced, particularly after heavy rain and/or high tides – the latter only affecting Ainsdale and Southport, due to high tides washing animal poo off the grazing marshes on the Ribble Estuary. Following heavy rainfall or the higher tides, beaches at Ainsdale and Southport will have temporary signs or information online advising against bathing.

    • Work continues to reduce the levels of bacteria in the sea, including from the sewer network and farming during heavy rain, and wrongly connected household drains.

    • Please help us have cleaner seas for swimming by following our top ten tips at www.lovemybeach.org

    How we can all LOVEmyBEACH:

    • Blockages in the drains can cause sewers to back up and overflow onto streets or into streams, rivers and the sea. Help avoid blockages by only flushing the 3Ps – pee, poo and paper. Everything else e.g. wet wipes, sanitary products and cotton buds, goes in the bin.

    • Cooking oils and fat can also cause drain blockages if poured down the sink as they set hard. Cool kitchen fat first then put it in the bin.

    • Check your drains at home aren’t sending dirty water from toilets, showers and dishwashers into the wrong pipes and to rivers and the sea – go to www.connectright.org.uk

    • At the beach please bag and bin your litter and dog’s mess and don’t feed the birds so they’re less likely to poo in the sea.

    • If your house is not on the mains sewerage network, advice on looking after septic tanks and others systems is on www.callofnature.info

    • Check the day’s water quality on the Environment Agency website or download the Safer Seas Service mobile app, which is free and warns you if there’s an occasional problem with water quality.
    You may comment here but news always gets more discussion at our facebook.com/groups/southportnews


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    Your Comments:


  3. pedoja says:20/05/2016 12:04 PM
    I would need the water (and air) temperatures to be a whole lot better than they are at the moment, before I set foot in the sea!

  4. Knot wright says:20/05/2016 01:01 PM
    considering the state of the beach access and NHS waiting lists .. no

  5. Sproggy the Cat says:20/05/2016 01:53 PM
    Love the way the last paragraphs try to shift the blame for our poor beach onto to Southport residents.

    No mention of the hazards of selling off many tons of sand at the northern beach.

  6. Sage says:20/05/2016 04:04 PM
    The Irish sea is cleaner than it has been in centuries.With improved sewage disposal and less industry around Liverpool bay.I think we have become softer..the sea is no colder than it was 40 years ago but few of us would dream of a daily swim!Perhaps we have been spoiled by spanish holidays.I did have a dip at Ainsdale last summer and it was rather bracing!But no ill effects

  7. oldduffer says:20/05/2016 06:44 PM
    So, where is The Blue Flag to be seen fluttering proudly in the breeze over this Classic Holiday Resort?

  8. T-2 says:21/05/2016 08:36 AM
    Feel free to swim, but just don't dare to drive anywhere near a beach or the parking revenue vultures will have you for lunch

  9. pedoja says:21/05/2016 08:42 AM
    What puts me off is "the mile hike" to GET to the sea!

  10. ClogDancer says:21/05/2016 10:42 AM
    "...don't feed the birds so they're less likely to poo in the sea."

    You can't be serious.

  11. Snig's foot says:21/05/2016 10:09 PM
    So this is basically a good news story, with some helpful advice on how to maintain the improved water quality, and maybe improve it....but all we get are negative postings.
    This work to improve the local bathing waters has cost well over £1,000 for every person in Southport, it's put my water bill up by over £500 over the last few years. I'd like to think that it's all been worth it.

  12. Darkside says:23/05/2016 01:43 PM
    It does make me laugh that the bathing water can be excellent off Formby, but only good off Ainsdale. Do the floating turds avoid Formby? Perhaps they do, even turds have taste.

  13. Snig's foot says:23/05/2016 06:15 PM
    Quote Originally Posted by Darkside View Post
    It does make me laugh that the bathing water can be excellent off Formby, but only good off Ainsdale. Do the floating turds avoid Formby? Perhaps they do, even turds have taste.
    Well, yes they do. The article points out that animal poo from the Ribble saltmarshes can affect Ainsdale and Southport, as can sewer overflows into the Ribble. However Formby sticks out into the sea a lot more (hence Formby Point), and largely misses the estuarine influence of the Ribble. It did used to be affected by the River Alt (at one time the most polluted river in Britain) but that has been massively improved over the last 50 years.
    Ainsdale has won Blue Flags (i.e. it used to have excellent water quality), but the new assessment method means that standards are stricter now. And talking of turds (which can float), I very rarely see them nowadays (and it's ususally sheep poo when i do), whereas in my youth (some time ago), they were ubiquitous along our coast.



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