10 Scotland beaches have ‘poor’ water quality

EDINBURGH: Ten beaches around Scotland have been rated as having “poor” water quality, new figures show.The rating from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) means the beaches — 12 per cent of the total assessed — have not met strict environmental water quality standards this year.In contrast, however, around a third of bathing waters have been labelled “excellent” and the remainder were also judged to have met the higher standards that came into force four years ago. The figures were released as the bathing season gets under way, and come as the environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful gave 61 beaches awards in recognition of their high standards for visitors. According to Sepa, fewer bathing waters have been rated as “poor” since the tighter standards were introduced in 2015. Of those that fell below standard, four were in the Solway area (Brighouse Bay, Dhoon Bay, Rockcliffe and Sandyhills) and three were in the West of Scotland (Ayr — South Beach, Heads of Ayr and Irvine).The remaining three were in East Lothian (Fisherrow Sands), Fife (Kinghorn - Harbour Beach) and South East Scotland (Eyemouth). Sepa said that partnership projects are under way to improve those bathing waters rated as “poor”. Some 88 per cent of Scotland’s 86 designated bathing waters were found to have met the required criteria.

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