Beaches to be proud of in the North East; Water quality at its best ever this year.Byline: Tony Henderson BATHING water quality off the North East's beaches was at its best ever this year. Results of sampling by the Environment Agency meant that every one of the region's 34 beaches passed the European Commission minimum mandatory standard - the fourth year running the North East had a 100% record. Last year, there were 13 failures at the higher guideline level, though. This year the number of guideline failures was down to four - a best ever result. The compliance rate was 88.2% compared to 61.82% last year. This year's failures were Spittal near Berwick, Newbiggin North, Seaton Carew Seaton Carew is a small seaside resort within the borough of Hartlepool, England. It is situated on the North Sea coast between the town of Hartlepool and the mouth of the River Tees. North and Saltburn. Beaches which failed guideline last year but passed in 2009 include Newbiggin South, Blyth South Beach, Seaton Sluice Coordinates: Seaton Sluice is a village in Northumberland. It lies on the coast at the mouth of the Seaton Burn, midway between Whitley Bay and Blyth. It has a population of about 4000 people. , Cullercoats, Tynemouth Long Sands North, Seaburn Sunderland, Seaham Beach and Seaham Hall Seaham Hall is now a spa Hotel in County Durham. It was once the home of George Henry Robert Charles William Vane-Tempest, 5th Marquess of Londonderry History Seaham Hall was one of the many properties acquired by Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry through . Nationally, 98.3% of beaches met the mandatory standard and 80% the EC guideline level. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said that in the previous two years, results had been affected by very wet weather, which has caused pollution in the form of run-off into the sea from urban areas and farmland, and the more frequent operation of combined sewer A combined sewer is a type of sewer system which provides partially separated channels for sanitary sewage and stormwater runoff. This allows the sanitary sewer system to provide backup capacity for the runoff sewer when runoff volumes are unusually high, but it is an antiquated overflows which are activated in stormy conditions. In the North East in 1998, no beaches passed guideline standard. A spokesman for Northumbrian Water said the vast improvement over the 11 years was the result of multi-million pound investment in pumping stations, pipelines, treatment plants, and more sophisticated levels of treatment. "We are very pleased with the results but we are not complacent," he said. In the period 2005-2010, the company has set a target of improving 481 combined sewer overflows at a cost of pounds 85m. "We are continuing to invest many more millions of pounds to benefit the region's environment," said the spokesman. CAPTION(S): PROUD TIME Bathing water quality off the North East's beaches, such as Tynemouth Longsands, was at its best ever this year. |
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