This in from the council, in their own words. Ed
Additional bathing water information is now being provided at five Isle of Wight locations to help ensure their beaches meet new quality standards.
The information is designed to keep the public updated on increased pollution risks at beaches subject to risk of pollution where rainfall causes a run off over land or through rivers and streams.
The locations included under the new requirements of the European Union revised bathing water directive are Cowes, Gurnard, Ryde, St Helens and Shanklin.
Short Term Pollution Warnings
From this month (May) it has become a requirement to provide additional information – Short Term Pollution Warnings – so the public can make an informed decision whether to bathe or not.
Prior to this month, and continuing in addition to the new warnings, the Isle of Wight Council has displayed weekly sampling results at each beach location, as well as on the council’s iwight.com website.
The new warnings are based on daily pollution risk predictions from the Environment Agency, which monitors the daily rainfall and issues a warning when the rainfall exceeds the amount considered to adversely affect water quality.
Notifications on any affected day will be sent from the Environment Agency to the council, which will then arrange for a notice to be displayed at the information point on the relevant esplanade by 10am that day.
The notice will be removed the following day unless there are further warnings – in which case the date will be amended accordingly.
Valuable information for bathers
Executive member for public protection, Councillor Phil Jordan, said:
“This extra water quality information from the Environment Agency will prove valuable for bathers and other beach users and will contribute to our beaches qualifying for quality beach status.
“As in the past, there is also information about weekly sampling results, both at the beaches and on the iwight.com website.”
Image: Library of Congress under CC BY 2.0
