The government has announced “bathing status” for 13 new beach and river sites, with a Catch-22 highlighted in a national media report suggesting the designation is harder to achieve in areas such as the River Itchen, where people are reluctant to swim due to existing pollution.
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The sites take the total to over 460 bathing waters, which will be rigorously and regularly tested by the Environment Agency throughout the bathing season meaning swimmers are better informed about water quality, and can swim with greater confidence, according to the department for environment, food and rural affairs.
But speaking to The i Paper, Gavin Millar from the Friends of the Itchen Estuary said that while lots of people used to swim in the estuary there has been a noticeable decline following reports of E.coli.
“We’re in this Catch 22 situation of people wanting to swim in the river, but not swimming in the river because they know this is polluted, and therefore we can’t get bathing water status,” he told the paper.
Links
13 new bathing sites open across England helping communities and waterways - UK government / DEFRA
River Thames in London gets first official bathing spot on Friday - The Guardian