Britain’s beaches made headlines last year as sewage spilled into England’s seas had more than doubled with a total of 3.6 million hours of spillages from water companies, according to the Environment Agency.
A recent study by waste collection company, Clear It Waste has found which UK beaches have the best water quality for those looking to enjoy a swim as the weather looks set to heat up dramatically in the coming weeks.
The study examined over 400 beaches across the UK between 2018 to 2024, looking at various factors relating to the water surrounding them, including suspension due to sewage, the average Intestinal Enterococci count (E. faecalis) and the Escherichia coli count (E. coli). The study then determined an overall water cleanliness score out of ten.
Key Findings:
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Fistral South is the best beach for swimmers, with an overall water cleanliness score of 9.99/10
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A total of 11 beaches in Cornwall had a cleanliness score of 9.98/10
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Over 300 UK beaches were ranked nine and above for water quality
The UK’s cleanest waters for swimmers
Waste collection company, Clear It Waste found that out of the 419 UK beaches analysed, over 300 had a cleanliness ranking of nine and above out of 10.
But with an outstanding cleanliness score of 9.9/10, Fistral South has been named the best beach for swimmers.
Located in Cornwall, the waters surrounding this beach have been labelled as excellent for the past four years, and is a top venue for major international surfing competitions, making it a much loved setting for holiday makers, water babies and water sports super fans.
A further 17 beaches scored a total of 9.98/10, with a total of 11 being based in the ever-so popular holiday spot Cornwall, suggesting this is a prime location for avid water sport fans.
The following six beaches all received the same cleanliness score of 9.98 out of 10:
Christchurch Bay, New Forest, is a perfect spot for a coastal walk with views of the Isle of Wight and the Needles. This spot was awarded the highest rating for water quality by the Environment Agency receiving three stars, spanning across Mildford-on-Sea and Sandbanks.
A second New Forest favourite, approximately 20 minutes from Christchurch Bay, Milford-on-Sea is a perfect destination for divers, but with the beach not having lifeguards, extra care is key to safely enjoying the fresh water.
Calm waters and smooth pebbles, Slapton Sands Torcross in South Hams is perfect for explorers with a large freshwater lake backing the beach, this beach homes some of the UK’s rarest flora and fauna.
With sand dunes near to the fishing village, Seahouses North beach in Northumberland hosts wonderful water quality for birdwatchers and sea anglers with a view of Farne Island in the distance.
Known as the English Riviera, Meadfoot’s beach in Torbay is one of the most popular holiday destinations in the country with clean and calm waters. But not to forget, holiday makers can also soak up the famous Agatha Christie’s home.
Haven of tranquillity and sand dunes, Shell Bay North also ranks as one of the best options to enjoy a swim, or for those who prefer staying dry, is a perfect spot to watch ships coming through, including the impressive Condor Ferries on route to the Channel Islands.
A further 12 beaches analysed all received a total ranking of 9.97 out of 10 such as a further seven located in Cornwall.
If you decide to use the data and tips used in this release, please provide a link to https://www.clearitwaste.co.
Methodology:
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Waste collection company, Clear it Waste wanted to find out which beaches had the cleanest water in the UK. To do this they collected data from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs on bathing water quality for 419 beaches across the UK.
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Pollution Risk Level. The original data was given as categorical “Increased” or “Normal”. Only risk level forecasts from April-August 2018 – 2024 were used. “Increased” was assigned 1 and “Normal” was assigned 0. Then, according to the recency of the risk forecast a weighting was applied as such:
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for forecasts made in April
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for forecasts made in May
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for forecasts made in June
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for forecasts made in July-August
Then the weighted risk levels were averaged over the period for each beach to determine the total overall risk score. This score was then normalised between 0-10.
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Suspensions due to sewage (2018 – 2024). This is the number of times each beach was suspended due to high sewage waste levels.
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Assessment classification. This is an assessment by the Environment Agency of bathing water based on up to 20 water samples taken during the bathing season (May-September) each year. The classifications are ‘Excellent’,‘good’, ‘Sufficient’ and ‘Poor’. For this analysis, scores of 10, 5, 3 and 0 were assigned to each of the above classifications respectively.
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Average Intestinal Enterococci Count and Average Escherichia coli Count (also known as E. coli). These are the average counts of each bacteria in (cfu/100ml), averaged over all readings. The figures were normalised between 0-10 (with 10 being the highest).
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Finally a weighted sum of all above 5 variables makes up a water cleanliness score/10.
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Samples Data for Intestinal Enterococci and Escherichia coli were forecasted for 2024 – 2028.
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Created a forecasted water cleanliness score/10 using prophet forecasting.
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The Holt-Winters method was further used for forecasted data processing due to its ability to model and forecast data points by considering the level, trend, and seasonality of a dataset. We used this model for the bacterial count data as it helps in adjusting to changes over time, providing a mechanism to give more weight to recent observations while still factoring in the entire dataset. This method is particularly useful in situations where data shows trends or cyclic patterns, which is common in environmental data tracking such as bacterial counts.
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All data was collected April 2024, and is accurate as of then.
Feature Photo by Phill Brown on Unsplash
