At 6:35am on Thursday 11 August 2011 those of us who are signed up for the SAS ( surfers against sewage ) alerts received a message - it read
'SAS SEWAGE ALERT. Sewage is currently discharging at Polzeath. This can have a serious impact on water quality. more info at www.sas.org.uk'
On receiving this I posted the alert on the Polzeath Fanpage. To which not unsurprisingly a few people have replied with concern. Unfortunatley there was no more information about why this alert was released on the SAS website to give.
Later in the day I had the opportunity to talk to SAS about these alerts and I was told that the alert are almost certainley due to CSO ( Combined sewer overflows ). This is a direct result of the rainfall overnight putting a strain on the system. The worrying thing about this to me is that it didn't seem that there was that much rain the night before!
The SAS has now been running their Sewage Text Alert for Polzeath for a couple of months now and this is the second text I have received. Its important to remember though that Polzeath is Blue Flag beach and amongst the large list of requirements to become a Blue Flag beach are rules on Water Quality and Environmental Management and therefore Polzeath is regularly proven to be a safe beach to use. Here are the Blue Flag Requirements.
Water Quality
Compliance with the requirements and standards for excellent bathing water quality
No industrial or sewage related discharges may affect the beach area
Monitoring on the health of coral reefs located in the vicinity of the beach
Compliance of the community with requirements for sewage treatment and effluent quality
Algae or other vegetation should be left to decay on the beach unless it constitutes a nuisance
Environmental Management
A beach management committee must be established to be in charge of instituting environmental management systems and conduct regular environmental audits of the beach facility
The beach must comply with all regulations affecting the location and operation of the beach (coastal zone planning and environmental legislation)
The beach must be clean
Waste disposal bins/receptacles must be available on/by the beach in adequate numbers, regularly maintained and emptied
Facilities for receiving recyclable waste materials must be available on/by the beach
Adequate and clean sanitary facilities with controlled sewage disposal
On the beach there will be no unauthorised camping or driving and no dumping
Regulation concerning dogs and other domestic animals on the beach must be strictly enforced
All buildings and equipment of the beach must be properly maintained
Sustainable means of transportation must be promoted in the beach area
CSO's are a problem on beaches all around the UK and the SAS have been trying to bring this issue to the public.
I have been questioning whether or not I should put these alerts on line. As sometimes ignorance is bliss - isn't it!!! And I'd hate to think I will ruin anyone's enjoyment of the beach unnecassarily.
If you're like me and you want to know information such as this before making a decision on going in then you could always sign up for their REAL TIME SEWAGE ALERTS . Personally I'd probably still go into the water (depending on how good the surf is) and wear earplugs to prevent ear infection and try to be extra careful not to swallow water! . When I was over in Sydney, Australia it is well known there that the water quality is poor after rainfall and many surfers either wear earplugs or take a day off.
Please let me know you're thoughts on this, for the moment I think I'll keep on passing on the warnings.
coming soon... I will write a blog on what action can be taken to resolve CSO overflows in Polzeath
