Bathing waters and the Bathing Water Directive

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The main objective of the Bathing Water Directives (76/160/EEC and 2006/7/EC) is to protect public health and the environment from faecal pollution at bathing waters. Member States are required to identify popular bathing areas and to monitor water quality at these bathing waters throughout the bathing season, which runs from mid May to the end of September in England.

Directive 76/160/EEC sets a number of microbiological and physico-chemical standards that bathing waters must either comply with ('mandatory' standards) or endeavour to meet ('guideline' standards). We will continue to monitor these standards until 2012, at which point we will change our monitoring to meet the higher standards set in Directive 2006/7/EC. The first full assessment under the standards set in 2006/7/EC will be made in 2015.

The two main standards used to assess the quality of bathing water are total coliforms and faecal coliforms, which are bacteria found in the guts of humans and other warm-blooded animals and are indicators of faecal pollution.

Full details of the required standards can be found in the Annex of the Bathing Water Directive (see Legislation section below).

For background information about why the Bathing Water Directive has been revised, the revision process and the content of earlier proposals, see the history of the revision.

The Bathing Water Directive and revised Bathing Water Directive

We are currently in a transitional period between the current and revised Bathing Water Directives. The requirements of 76/160/EEC are changing in stages to reflect the requirements of 2006/7/EC between now and 2015.

The texts of both Directives and the transposing Regulations are available here:

Also forming part of the transposing legislation is the Bathing Waters (England) Notice 2008, issued by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 26 September 2008. It revokes the notices given under section 83 (1) of the Water Resources Act 1991 and under paragraph 3(1)(a) of Schedule 1 to the Bathing Waters (Classification) Regulations 1991 on 5 May 1992, 14 February 1997 and 13 June 2003.

The Schedule to this notice, entitled Bathing Waters (England) 2008 ("the English list"), gives the complete list of identified bathing waters in England and any transparency waivers at these sites.

Administration and implementation of the Directives

The Bathing Water Directives are administered in England by Defra and in the rest of the UK by the relevant Devolved Administration.  Bathing water enquiries in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should be directed to the Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly Government and Department of Environment Northern Ireland respectively.
The Directive is implemented in the UK by the following regulatory authorities:

Contact details for queries relating to implementation of the Directive can be found at the above websites.

Identified bathing waters in the UK

During the 2009 bathing there were 414 identified and monitored bathing waters in England, 81 in Wales, 80 in Scotland and 24 in Northern Ireland, making a total of 599 bathing waters across the UK. Of these sites, 587 are coastal waters and 12 are inland freshwater sites.

Country 2008 2009
England 414 1 414 1
Wales 81 81
Scotland 80 80
Northern Ireland 24 24
UK total 599 599

1 This number does not include three identified bathing waters (Blackpool North, Barmston and Newhaven) which are temporarily inaccessible.

Identification of new bathing waters in England

Defra undertakes a review of the list of bathing waters each year.  We are now considering applications for amendments to the list of bathing waters for the 2010 bathing season.

The list remains open to review and we welcome the views and suggestions of members of the public to help us to ensure that the list of bathing waters accurately reflects the coastal and inland sites in England that are used for bathing.

If you are aware of a beach or inland water where a large number of people bathe regularly, please contact the landowner or the local authority for the area to recommend that they apply for it to be identified as a bathing water. 

Alternatively you can contact Defra direct.  We would also like to be notified if a coastal or inland water which appears on the list is no longer being used for bathing, which may occasionally happen as a result of safety concerns or changing patterns of usage.

The current list of bathing waters in England can be found here:

Further information about how to apply for a beach or inland freshwater site to be identified as a bathing water, including the contact details for the Bathing Water team at Defra, can be found here:

Further information about the identification process and how to make an application

Bathing water monitoring results in England and the UK 2009

The monitoring results for England and the UK are compiled at the end of the bathing season and announced by Defra, during November each year.

Defra also produces a detailed summary report at the end of the year of mandatory compliance results for UK bathing waters (for all parameters under the Directive). The report for 2009 will be published in December. The 2008 report is available via the link below:
2008 summary report for UK bathing water monitoring results (PDF 370 KB)

UK compliance with the Bathing Water Directive (76/160/EEC)

Mandatory standards

Meeting the mandatory water quality standards of the Bathing Water Directive is the minimum legal requirement. Mandatory standards are given for 10 parameters: total coliforms, faecal coliforms, salmonella, enteroviruses, pH, colour, mineral oils, surface active substances (detergents), phenols and transparency. The Directive also sets the minimum frequency at which bathing waters should be sampled.

The mandatory standards used by the European Commission to determine compliance of bathing waters with the Directive are the microbiological parameters - total and faecal coliforms, and three physico-chemical parameters: surface active substances, mineral oils and phenols. Cases of non-compliance with the physico-chemical parameters are extremely rare so compliance in the UK each year is normally determined by the extent of pollution by total and faecal coliform bacteria.

To comply with these standards, bathing waters must not exceed values of 10,000 total coliforms per 100ml and 2000 faecal coliforms per 100ml in 95% of samples.

In 2009, 98.3 per cent of bathing waters in England complied with these microbiological standards, with 7 of the 414 waters failing to meet the minimum standards of the Directive.

The table below shows percentage compliance with the mandatory standards for total and faecal coliforms in England only and in the UK over the last decade.

Year '00 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09
England
% compliance 		94.3 97.8 98.5 98.8 98.3 98.8 99.5 97.8 96.1 98.3
UK
% compliance		 94.1 95.3 97.8 98.4 97.7 98.4 99.5 96.5 95.8 97.7
Guideline standards

The Bathing Water Directive also sets more stringent guideline microbiological standards that Member States must endeavour to observe.

To comply with the guideline standards, bathing waters must not exceed values of 500 total coliforms per 100ml and 100 faecal coliforms per 100ml in 80% of water quality samples, and 100 faecal streptococci per 100ml in 90% of samples taken.

In 2009, 69.8 per cent of all bathing waters in England met this tighter standard. The is the guideline standard that constitutes the water quality criterion of the international Blue Flag award scheme.

The table below shows percentage compliance with the highest guideline standards for total coliforms, faecal coliforms, and faecal streptococci in England only and in the UK over the last decade.

UK Guideline compliance

Year '00 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09
England
% compliance		 44.4 59.6 69.8 73.5 67.1 73.7 75.1 72.5 65.7 69.8
UK
% compliance		 44.6 57.3 67.6 74.2 67.9 74.0 75.0 70.8 63.9 69.4

See the Environment Agency website for more detailed information on bathing water quality results in England and Wales, including compliance results for individual bathing waters.

UK compliance compared with other EU Member States

The UK's bathing water results are reported to the European Commission by 31 December each year to inform its annual report, which is published in May or June of the following year:

The 2008 report indicates that the results achieved by the UK were close to the EU average for compliance with the mandatory microbiological standards of the Directive, but compliance with the more stringent guideline standards remained below average. The report for the 2009 bathing season will be available in the early summer of 2010.

The EU bathing water report assesses guideline compliance using the same standards as the UK guideline for total and faecal coliforms but does not take the parameter for faecal streptococci into account.  The table below shows percentage compliance with the EC guideline standard for England only and for the UK over the last 10 years.

EC Guideline complaince

Year '00 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09
England
% compliance		 53.3 69.2 76.4 81.8 78.5 83.8 79.7 78.3 70.5 80.2
UK
% compliance		 53.4 65.7 73.8 81.9 78.3 82.5 79.2 75.6 68.3 79.3

Further improvements to bathing water quality

Since 1995, water companies in England and Wales have invested over £2billion to bring about improvements to sewerage infrastructure, which has resulted in a steady improvement of bathing water quality. Further improvement works are planned at a number of sewage treatment works in England, bringing additional benefits to bathing waters.

Despite significant improvements to the surrounding sewerage infrastructure, some bathing waters continue to be affected by diffuse water pollution, i.e. faecal pollution from agricultural and/or urban runoff after heavy rain.

Tackling sources of diffuse water pollution is the next big challenge if we are to see further significant improvements in bathing water quality. This will be delivered through initiatives such as the Catchment-Sensitive Farming Initiative, with Defra working closely with farmers and other stakeholders to improve farming practices.

Implementation of Directive 2006/7/EC

The revised Bathing Water Directive (2006/7/EC):

  • simplifies and updates Directive 76/160/EEC
  • has a closer focus on the protection of public health
  • makes changes to the bathing water classifications system, bringing in more stringent standards
  • continues to apply only to bathing waters and does not include other recreational waters (for example surfing or sailing)  
  • has a requirement to produce bathing water profiles
  • enables the public to make informed choices about where and when to bathe by requiring water quality information to be provided on signs at bathing waters and through other media
  • has a requirement to produce emergency plans required for exceptional circumstances
  • includes the possibility of discounting poor samples at some bathing waters due to abnormal weather
  • timetable is in line with the Water Framework Directive, as bathing waters are protected areas under the Water Framework Directive

The requirement for the provision of information to the public is an important aspect of the revised Directive.  Information must be available on signs at all identified bathing waters and through other media, such as the internet.  The European Commission will propose a system of clear and simple signs or symbols to be used at all bathing waters before 24 March 2010. Signage must be in place at all bathing waters by the 2012 bathing season.

Between November 2007 and February 2008 Defra held a consultation to seek views on the revised Directive, particularly on:

  • the number and type of bathing waters where measures should be taken to improve the water quality
  • the continued development of a prediction and discounting system
  • the development of public information for beach signage

Forty-two responses to the consultation were received. The responses have been analysed and a summary has been published:

Predicted classifications under Directive 2006/7/EC

The revised Directive has updated the way in which water quality is measured, focusing on fewer microbiological indicators and setting different standards for inland and coastal bathing sites:

  • tighter microbiological standards - to be met by 2015
  • two microbiological parameters - Intestinal enterococci and Escherichia coli
  • water quality classification based on 3 or 4 years monitoring data
  • four new classification categories:
    • excellent - approximately twice as stringent as the current guideline standard
    • good - similar to the current guideline standard
    • sufficient - tighter than the current mandatory standard
    • poor - normally non-compliant waters

Defra and the Environment Agency have used the new standards and four years of water quality monitoring data (2005 to 2008) to assess the compliance rate that might be expected in England and Wales under the revised Bathing Water Directive.

It is important to appreciate that these predictions assume that no further action is taken to improve water quality. The predicted classifications for each identified bathing water in England and Wales are available:

The assessment for England is based on 406 bathing waters because it excludes those that have been identified in the last two years or have been closed to samplers and the public during the assessment period because of access problems or planned engineering works. It is predicted that 91 per cent of bathing waters will meet at least the "sufficient" classification, compared with 96.1 per cent that met mandatory standards in 2008. 37 bathing waters are predicted to be classified as "poor".

The number of bathing waters predicted in each classification category in England under the revised Bathing Water Directive (based on current water quality results):

Classification No. of bathing waters
predicted in England		 % of bathing waters
predicted in England1
Excellent 217 54
Good 90 22
Sufficient 62 15
Poor 37 9
Total 406 100

1To the nearest whole number

Over the coming years Defra will be working closely with stakeholders to determine the most appropriate course of action to be taken at bathing waters, particularly those at risk of failing the new standards.

The improvements will comprise the programme of measures to be introduced in 2009 under the Water Framework Directive, aimed at achieving a sufficient or higher classification by 2015. The measures will include improvements to sewerage infrastructure and action to reduce diffuse pollution.

Bathing water newsletter

To keep everyone who is interested in or affected by our work informed of its progress, we issue a Bathing Water Newsletter:

For newsletters from 2006 and 2007 visit the National Archives website.

As well as viewing the newsletter on the Defra website you can also receive it via email.  If you would like to be added to the mailing list and receive future email editions of the newsletter, or if you would like to request copies of past issues, contact: bathingwater@defra.gsi.gov.uk.

Beach awards

There are a number of voluntary beach award schemes in operation in the UK, which have bathing water quality as an essential requirement for the award. These include the Blue Flag scheme and the Good Beach Guide. For more information see the following websites:

Page last modified: 17 November 2009
Page published: 31 May 2002