Two beaches in Barry saw a drop in water quality in 2020, new data reveals.
Whitmore Bay and Jackson’s Bay, both in Barry Island, saw their official water quality rating drop.
Annual ratings produced by Natural Resources Wales are based on levels of bacteria in all 105 of Wales’ bathing waters.
Read more: The 84 beaches in Wales with excellent water quality
Jackson’s Bay is now rated sufficient, down from good, while Whitmore Bay lost its excellent rating, and is now only good.
Fiona Abbott, operations manager for Natural Resources Wales, said: “Keeping Wales’ bathing waters clean and safe for people and wildlife is a huge part of the work we do.
“We’ve been working with Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water and Vale of Glamorgan Council for years to monitor the bathing water quality around Barry.
“The classification of bathing water quality is determined by using sample results over the last four years. Both Whitmore Bay and Jackson’s Bay’s waters had an abnormally high level of bacteria in a sample result following wet weather last year.
“We cannot say what caused these high results as Barry is a complex urban catchment. We will continue to look into what might have caused the drop in water quality at the time of sampling and we will be working with our partners towards getting an improvement in classification for next season.
“It’s always disappointing when our waters drop a classification, but it’s important to remember that 84 out of 105 of our designated bathing waters are classed as ‘excellent’ and none are classed as ‘poor’, which is a big achievement.”
All beaches in Wales currently have water quality which meets the requirements for swimming and bathing, including Barry’s beaches.
Cold Knapp was the only beach in Barry to achieve the highest standard of “excellent” in Natural Resources Wales’ annual report.
The Vale of Glamorgan Council says that water quality has improved since the readings were taken across 2020, and readings are taken monthly by Natural Resources Wales during the summer months each year.
Miles Punter, Vale of Glamorgan Council Director for Environment and Housing Services, said: “These readings relate to data collected last year so have little relevance when discussing the current water quality at these beaches.
“Information for 2021, which is available on the Natural Resources Wales website, indicates the water is extremely clean with no trace of either Intestinal enterococci or Escherichia coli during the last seven months of testing.
“Readings were also very good in 2020 apart from two anomalous results which the Council has been advised could be down to a number of factors, including wet weather on the day of sampling.”
You can view the latest data for all bathing waters in Wales here.
A Welsh Water spokesperson said: “Welsh Water is committed to playing its part in helping Wales secure the best bathing waters and over the past 20 years has invested over £1 billion pounds to help achieve this.
“We are aware that both Both Whitmore Bay and Jackson’s Bay’s waters dropped classification last year. Although both beaches comply with the bathing standards requirements we are committed to working with NATURAL Resources Wales and the Vale of Glamorgan to protect and improve water quality at these beaches.”
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