HAVANT BOROUGH COUNCIL SEA WATER SAMPLING PROGRAMME

Contact:

Environmental Health, Environment Team;

Civic Offices, Civic Centre Road, Havant, Hampshire, PO9 2AX

Telephone:      (023) 9244 6670

Email:              ippc@havant.gov.uk

Staff from the Environmental Health and Housing Service take samples of seawater from different locations every fortnight throughout the year. These samples are taken to the Public Health Laboratories for analysis. Tests carried out determine the number and types of indicator bacteria present in the water sample.

Between May and the end of September (the official bathing season) the level of monitoring is increased when seawater samples are also taken by the Environment Agency. All samples are tested to find the number of bacteria present and to determine whether the seawater complies with the European Community Directive on Bathing Water Quality (Directive 76/160/EEC).

Click on the links below for bathing waters sampling results, and additional information on algal blooms:

View Water Quality Standards >>

Bathing Season Water Quality Summary (2008), includes links to previous years) >>

BATHING BEACH AWARDS

Havant Borough Council has been granted several prestigious awards for its bathing beaches on Hayling Island. These include the European Blue Flag, the Solent Water Quality Award and the Yellow Flag of the Tidy Britain Group. We were particularly fortunate to receive two Blue Flags in 1999 and three in 2000. This is due to continued improvement in the management of the Boroughs beaches and marinas.

• In 1999 an additional Blue Flag had been granted for the beach which runs from the Inn on the Beach to Hayling Island Golf Course.

• In the year 2000 another Blue flag was granted to Northney marina making a total of three for the year 2000.

• The Borough has received three blue flags each year since.

The Solent Water Quality Award which began in 1993 and covers recreational waters, has been granted to Hayling Island seafront every year to date. This is one of only eight beaches in the Solent area where the award applies throughout the year rather than during the bathing season only. The award applies to the beach from Sandy Point to the West Winner on Hayling Island.

EC BLUE FLAG AWARDS

The European Blue Flag for bathing beaches is administered by the Tidy Britain Group and is partly funded by the Department of the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). It is valid for a period of one year and must be reviewed annually.

To be eligible for the Blue Flag, a bathing beach must fulfil all the requirements of the award including:

• Meeting the water quality guideline standards of the European Community Bathing Water Directive 76/160/EEC.

• Absence of industrial or sewage discharges affecting the beach area.

• Absence of any gross pollution on the beach and intertidal areas from sewage related or other waste including glass and litter.

• Absence of discharge of industrial or urban waste.

• Absence of algal or other vegetation materials accumulating or decaying.

• Absence of oil pollution.

• High management levels covering emergency plans, disabled access, public telephones, drinking water, toilet facilities, buildings and equipment maintenance and general cleanliness.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITY BATHING WATER DIRECTIVE

The EC Bathing Water Directive (Directive 76/160/EEC) contains extensive provisions regarding quality standards in coastal waters. The Directive lays down bacteriological and other quality standards, prescribes a surveillance regime and obliges EC Member States to take the necessary measures to ensure that bathing waters conform to these standards.

• Seawater at EC beaches must be sampled at weekly intervals between 1 May and the end of September.

• A minimum of 20 samples must be collected for analysis to determine the number of (coliform) bacteria.

• All samples must be taken at predetermined points off the beach where the daily average density of bathers is at its highest.

• To comply with the standard given in the Directive there must be no more than 10,000 coliform bacteria per 100ml of seawater in total and no more than 2,000 faecal coliforms per 100ml.

• To comply with the Directive, 95% of samples taken from bathing water must meet these standards ( i.e. only one failure is permitted).

• The EC Bathing Water Directive also includes guideline standards, which are more stringent than the mandatory standards, and member states should strive to meet them. The guideline standards are that 80% of the samples must not exceed 500 total coliforms per 100ml or 100 faecal coliforms per 100 ml and 90% of the samples must not exceed 100 faecal streptococci per 100ml.