Bathing waters designation
Identifying new bathing waters in Scotland
What is a bathing water and how is one identified?
The Bathing Water Directive is concerned with the quality of
bathing waters, including the sea, inland lochs and rivers.
The directive states that a bathing water is one where a large
number of people are expected to bathe and a permanent bathing
prohibition, or permanent advice against bathing, has not been
issued.
Generally, a ‘large’ number of bathers (150 or so people) will
be found at popular, well-used beaches and lakes where bathing is
encouraged and facilities for bathers may have been provided.
For a new bathing water to be identified, an applicant should be
able to provide evidence that the site is being used by a large
number of bathers, usually through photographs or a survey of
bather numbers. In addition, evidence that the relevant authorities
or land owners are actively seeking to promote bathing at the site
will be taken into consideration.
In Scotland there are currently 80 designated bathing waters.
Twenty of these were added to the list in 2008 using information
from a Scottish Government funded aerial survey, beach user counts
by SEPA and Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB). An up-to-date list of
bathing waters for Scotland can be found on
this website.
The application process
Any organisation or individual can put forward a bathing water
to be considered for designation. The applicant will need to
provide good information about the number of beach users, both in
and around the water, throughout the bathing season. This is
usually in the form of photographic evidence of people in the water
or a survey of user numbers.
Once the application and supporting evidence has been received,
it will be considered by a multi-sector panel, chaired by SEPA, who
will make recommendations to the Scottish Government’s Minister for
Environment. The Minister will then decide which beaches are
designated before the next bathing water season.
Submissions for potential bathing waters need to be received by
the last working day in march. In future years this may be
earlier.
Further enquiries
For enquiries to SEPA on any aspects on bathing waters please
email.
Information about bathing waters can also be found on the
Scottish Government and Keep Scotland Beautiful websites: