Tidalwaiv

Bathing Water Data for England for over 30 years. See current standards and how they have improved or worsened.

[Tidalwaiv @tidalwaiv]

@DagenhamMKIII Not worse, agreed. Minster Leas has only been sampled since 2010: Good every year 2010-14, then Excellent in 9 of the last 10 Environment Agency assessments (Good in 2024). Cockle beds are judged on separate shellfish standards we don't cover.

https://t.co/SgsdP1mydS

[Tidalwaiv @tidalwaiv]

Danny Dyer thinks the water around the Isle of Sheppey is "a disgrace" and "very dangerous". Is it dirtier than when he was a kid? No.

In 1991, 55% of English bathing waters would pass today's standards. In 2025: 95%. Leysdown's E. coli is down ~96%.

https://t.co/yjKIZ72ydU

[Steve Loftus @LoftusSteve]

We don't talk enough about how your electricity bill acts as a backdoor tax rise.

If they put income tax up 2p there would be a national debate. But every year they add billions in policy costs to your bills and nobody blinks an eye.

[Tidalwaiv @tidalwaiv]

Top 10 E. coli falls at English bathing waters, 1991-2025:

Newbiggin North 99%
Minehead Terminus 97%
Newbiggin South 97%
Morecambe North 96%
Kingsand* 96%
Milford-on-Sea 95%
Morecambe South 94%
Ryde 93%
Salcombe South Sands 91%
Southport 90%

*from 2001

https://t.co/XLVFQTcAv8

[Tidalwaiv @tidalwaiv]

Share of bathing waters rated Excellent, by region (latest official classifications):

South West 79%
North East 68%
South East 67%
East of England 66%
Yorkshire & Humber 41%
North West 18%

Look up any beach's history back to 1988: https://t.co/XLVFQTcAv8

[Tidalwaiv @tidalwaiv]

@polytixs @LoftusSteve The data is here: Environment Agency sampling for West Beach, Whitstable back to 1988, 768 samples, downloadable as CSV. Poor in 1990-92 on our historical estimates; Good or Excellent in every official EA assessment from 2010 to 2025.

https://t.co/IqB9nvkPCE

[Tidalwaiv @tidalwaiv]

Morecambe North: Poor every year 1992-2003 on our historical estimates. Four-year bacterial averages are now 97% lower than in 1991.

Yet it's still only Sufficient, as in every official Environment Agency assessment 2022-2025.

858 samples since 1988: https://t.co/pXaTpi7p5i

[Tidalwaiv @tidalwaiv]

@catherineorcha4 @SouthWestWater Sorry your swim was off. For the longer view, Environment Agency results for Plymouth Hoe East and West: both Poor in 2010, both Excellent every year 2022-2025. Short-term pollution alerts after rain are separate.

https://t.co/Y9rSscWep3

[Tidalwaiv @tidalwaiv]

Whitley Bay: Poor every year from 1991 to 1996 on our historical estimates. Excellent in every official Environment Agency assessment from 2010 to 2025.

742 samples since 1988: https://t.co/q149i1RFiu

[Tidalwaiv @tidalwaiv]

@EveryoneKnws1 @LBC @HenryRiley1 For Sheppey's designated bathing waters, the latest EA classifications (2025): Sheerness Excellent, Minster Leas Excellent, Leysdown Good. Leysdown has been Good or better in every assessment since 2013.

https://t.co/oeyldkGijw

[Tidalwaiv @tidalwaiv]

Below are the top 10 largest declines in bathing water quality since 1988.

However, all of these are still very low. They have generally gone from very low to slightly less very low.

[John Wills @johndotwills]

But what about all the tories releasing sewage into rivers? I was specifically told that the conservatives did that through allowing hedge funds to provide services at super expensive rates to invest profits in Israel and to (cont. p94)

[Tidalwaiv @tidalwaiv]

@Iansn57 It would make much more sense for @WaterUK to have made this. I'm open to them taking it on.

[Tidalwaiv @tidalwaiv]

These are the most improved bathing waters in England since we started recording data in 1988.

[James Clark 📈📉¯\_(ツ)_/¯ @mr_james_c]

I'm surprised no one has published data like this before.

Surely it should act as the baseline for any discussions on the value or otherwise of privatising water providers?

[Tidalwaiv @tidalwaiv]

The most improved bathing waters in the UK in the past 35 years belong to Newbiggin North beach in Northumberland.

Which has seen a 98.7% improvement, from an average of 1262 CFU to just 16.

[Hilton Holloway @hiltonholloway]

Well, well

[Amy Mutton 🪶✨ @AmyMutts]

Most useful data, thank you!

[Tidalwaiv @tidalwaiv]

Beachlands West in Havant has seen a 19% improvement in pollution levels since 1991. Its classification changed from Sufficient to Excellent.

https://t.co/1KzTNggwiE

[Tidalwaiv @tidalwaiv]

Charlestown in Cornwall has had a 66% improvement in pollution levels since 1991.

https://t.co/aO4sUllniM