The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has welcomed the publication of a study which examines the causes and offers solutions to the failure of some of the Ayrshire bathing beaches to meet Bathing Water Directive Mandatory standards.

The study, funded jointly by SEPA, West of Scotland Water and North and South Ayrshire Councils, was conducted by leading authority, Professor Kay of the University of Wales. It concludes that sewage discharges direct to the marine environment are currently the major source of faecal organisms entering the coastal waters and clearly contributed to the failure of a number of Ayrshire’s bathing beaches in recent years. It also identifies that diffuse agricultural pollution, in conjunction with combined sewer overflows, is responsible for poor quality in certain river catchments which discharge into coastal waters.

"The 1998 results for Scotland's 23 identified bathing waters were the worst for 10 years, with only 1 of the 8 identified waters in West Region passing the EC Bathing Water Directive's mandatory standards," said Colin Bayes, SEPA’s head of water policy.

"This is not good enough! SEPA identified last year’s cloudy and wet summer as being a major contributory factor in the failures and Professor Kay’s report agrees with this, going into greater detail and identifying exact points where improvements can be made. It is SEPA’s duty to ensure these improvements are carried out. We aim to work closely with both West of Scotland Water, the local councils, and the agricultural community to implement the improvements identified in this report."

SEPA supports plans for a conference, to discuss these issues further, in the late autumn.

Notes for Editors

SEPA Web site: SEPA publishes its bathing water monitoring results ‘live’ on its Web site http://www.sepa.org.uk

The Directive: The EC ‘Council Directive of 8 December 1975 concerning the quality of bathing water’ is designed to protect and enhance the quality of bathing waters throughout Europe. Scotland has 23 designated bathing waters, which are each tested annually 20 times between June and September. The samples taken are tested for the presence of a number of parameters, the two most important of which are total coliforms and faecal coliforms. For a bathing water to pass the mandatory requirements of the Directive, only one failure is allowed in these standards per year. It is the responsibility of SEPA to carry out the sampling and associated analytical work.

Mandatory standard: the water quality standard set by the EU, which member states must observe. If achieved, a mandatory pass indicates good water quality. SEPA tests water quality by taking water samples and carrying out biological tests to look for bacteria which indicate the presence of pollution from human sewage or livestock excrement.

Guideline value: EU water quality standard which is stricter than the mandatory standard and, if achieved, indicates excellent water quality.

Research: Following a number of failures on the Ayrshire coast in 1997, a major research project to investigate the potential causes of the failures was implemented. The project reviewed data from previous results, using modelling to predict the impact of discharges, for instance from sewage outflows, assessing actual discharges by testing with dyes and floats, and making recommendations for action. The Councils of North and South Ayrshire joined SEPA and WoSWA on the project Steering Group.