What are Somerset’s safest waters to bathe in?

Bathing waters across Somerset have been recently rated by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affair (DEFRA), which has recently published its classification for 2021.

Here is how locations in Somerset were rated:

Porlock Weir, excellent;
Minehead Terminus, good;
Dunster Beach, sufficient;
Blue Anchor West, sufficient;
Berrow North of Unity Farm; good;
Weston-super-Mare Uphill Slipway, sufficient;
Weston Main, poor;
Weston-super-Mare Sand Bay, sufficient;
Clevedon Beach, good. 



Minehead beach

MP Ian Liddell-Grainger gave his comments on the sites that fall within his constituency - Porlock Weir, Minehead Terminus, Dunster Beach, and Blue Anchor West.

He said clean bathing beaches are a “great asset for tourism” in West Somerset.




Dunster beach

The MP also said: “I am very pleased to see further evidence of the improvements brought about by the millions of pounds that have been invested locally into cleaning up sewage discharges.

“It is a great asset for tourism in West Somerset to be able to advertise clean bathing beaches.”


Blue Anchor beach

99 per cent of bathing waters in England have passed water quality standards following testing at over 400 designated sites carried out by the Environment Agency (EA).

The results also show that for the 2021 bathing season 94.7 per cent of beaches and inland waters gained an ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’ rating while 4.3 per cent achieved the minimum ‘Sufficient’ rating.

This compares with 98.3 per cent passing the required standards in 2019 and is the highest number since new standards were introduced in 2015.

Bathing waters are monitored for sources of pollution known to be a risk to bathers’ health, with up to 20 samples taken from each site during the bathing season. Each sample is tested for bacteria, specifically E Coli and intestinal enterococci.

Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said: “Water quality is an absolute priority. We are the first Government to direct Ofwat to prioritise action by water companies to protect the environment and deliver the improvements that we all want to see.

“But we must go further to protect and enhance water quality. Our Environment Act puts in place more protections against water pollution than ever before, we are investing in programmes to support farmers to tackle water quality issues, and we are clear that where water companies do not step up, we will take robust action.”