Work began this week along the Southend coastline as part of a £3 million investment into improving local bathing waters by Anglian Water.
The scheme will take place between now and end of Spring 2017 and involves installing a number of new storm water tanks to trap more rainwater, reducing the number of overflows that occur during storms and enabling this storm water to be sent to be cleaned before it’s released to sea.
Work will take place on Riviera Drive, Woodgrange Drive, Southchurch Road and Manners Way where there will be some road, pedestrian and parking disruption while the scheme is being completed.
Last year, over 70 per cent of the bathing waters in the Anglian Water region achieved the highest ‘Excellent’ standard, even in the face of the much stricter European standards introduced in 2015. Nine of Essex’ bathing waters were rated Excellent, many of which were awarded Blue Flags.
Jo Matthews, who looks after the coastline in Essex for Anglian Water said: “We have an enormous stretch of coastline in our region and caring for it is hugely important to us. This is why we run volunteering schemes like BeachCare to keep beaches clear of litter, it’s why we host events like the Love our Seaside Sand Sculpture event at Josceleyne’s Beach, and why we’ve been investing heavily in our coastal equipment for decades and have some of the most sophisticated coastal monitoring systems available. It’s also why we have specialist team focused entirely on beach water quality.
“This latest £3 million scheme in Southend will help to reduce the risk of sewer overflows affecting the coast and keep urban pollutants like dirt, car oils and chemicals out of the sea.”
It is these small but cumulative causes of diffuse pollution that are the biggest cause of poor bathing water in the East of England. Diffuse pollution comes from different sources such as:
Jo Matthews, continued: “We are working with local councils, businesses, farmers, and residents across the coastal region to pinpoint the causes of pollution and tackle them. In addition to this latest investment, we’re spending hundreds of thousands of pounds more on this type of partnership work which is having such a positive impact, especially in places like Southend where this year three beaches won new Blue Flags compared to last.
“We will be working together to identify sources of diffuse pollution using state-of-the-art technology including CCTV, bacterial tracing, marine modeling, sampling and on-foot surveys of the coastal area."
Further information regarding the planned works that started on 15 August can be found on the In Your Area section of the Anglian Water website www.anglianwater.co.uk/your-area.
The scheme will take place between now and end of Spring 2017 and involves installing a number of new storm water tanks to trap more rainwater, reducing the number of overflows that occur during storms and enabling this storm water to be sent to be cleaned before it’s released to sea.
Work will take place on Riviera Drive, Woodgrange Drive, Southchurch Road and Manners Way where there will be some road, pedestrian and parking disruption while the scheme is being completed.
Last year, over 70 per cent of the bathing waters in the Anglian Water region achieved the highest ‘Excellent’ standard, even in the face of the much stricter European standards introduced in 2015. Nine of Essex’ bathing waters were rated Excellent, many of which were awarded Blue Flags.
Jo Matthews, who looks after the coastline in Essex for Anglian Water said: “We have an enormous stretch of coastline in our region and caring for it is hugely important to us. This is why we run volunteering schemes like BeachCare to keep beaches clear of litter, it’s why we host events like the Love our Seaside Sand Sculpture event at Josceleyne’s Beach, and why we’ve been investing heavily in our coastal equipment for decades and have some of the most sophisticated coastal monitoring systems available. It’s also why we have specialist team focused entirely on beach water quality.
“This latest £3 million scheme in Southend will help to reduce the risk of sewer overflows affecting the coast and keep urban pollutants like dirt, car oils and chemicals out of the sea.”
It is these small but cumulative causes of diffuse pollution that are the biggest cause of poor bathing water in the East of England. Diffuse pollution comes from different sources such as:
- Rainwater run-off from roads, roofs, pavements and farmland that washes pollutants such as chemicals, animal mess and litter into the sea
- Misconnected house drains, which have a massive combined impact by sending foul waste out to rivers and the sea as if it were rainwater
- Large populations of roosting birds that cause large quantities of droppings to enter the bathing water
- Dog mess
- Litter
- Trade waste
- Slurry from farms
- Animal waste from fields washing into watercourses when it rains
- Poorly maintained private cess pits and privately owned sewerage systems
Jo Matthews, continued: “We are working with local councils, businesses, farmers, and residents across the coastal region to pinpoint the causes of pollution and tackle them. In addition to this latest investment, we’re spending hundreds of thousands of pounds more on this type of partnership work which is having such a positive impact, especially in places like Southend where this year three beaches won new Blue Flags compared to last.
“We will be working together to identify sources of diffuse pollution using state-of-the-art technology including CCTV, bacterial tracing, marine modeling, sampling and on-foot surveys of the coastal area."
Further information regarding the planned works that started on 15 August can be found on the In Your Area section of the Anglian Water website www.anglianwater.co.uk/your-area.
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