WET News

8 WET NEWS JANUARY 2016 T he revised Bathing Water Directive (rBWD 2006/7/C) introduced by the European Union has brought a new classification system with much tougher wa- ter quality standards as well as an emphasis on providing in- formation to the public. It has four levels of classification – excellent, good, sufficient and poor. Hastings had been identified as one of 25 UK beaches at risk of failing to meet revised bathing water quality standards. Additionally, the Environment Agency (EA) had predicted that Hastings would be classified as "poor" for the 2015 bathing season. Southern Water, therefore, set itself the target of achieving at least the "sufficient" classification (as identified in the Environment Agency National Environment Programme) following the 2015 season. It was clear from the outset that this was not going to be an easy fix. Especially, as the Hastings drainage catchment is a historic area, heavily urbanised, covers an area of approximately 1,350 hectares and has a population of around 56,000. The EA had identified the Alexandra Park Stream as a major path of pollution that discharges directly onto the beach, 60m from the bathing water sample point. As a result, the EA and Hastings Borough Council (HBC) undertook works to clean Alexandra Park Stream during 2014 and 2015. It was also quickly obvious that this was not a challenge that could be tackled alone. Southern Water, HBC, EA and Stopping Hastings falling foul of the revised BWD rules • Various sources of pollution were putting the population and historic town of Hastings at risk of failing the stringent new standards demanded by the revised Bathing Water Directive. MWH's Rob McTaggart explains. ONSITE WATeR qUAliTY coMpliANce HBc, MWH and Southern Water collectively checked the connectivity of more than 1,200 properties in the town Hastings and Rother Voluntary Action groups, all supported by local MP Amber Rudd, joined forces to create a consortium to collectively meet the "sufficient" target. Combined powers The Hastings Bathing Water Executive Group (HBWEG) formed to bring together interested parties and foster collaboration and data sharing. The combined powers of all these groups enabled them to address sources of pollution and communicate effectively with the public and other stakeholders. Work carried out by all parties has helped fix a variety of pollution sources leading to the town's bathing water now passing the more stringent standards (which are twice as tough as those previously applied). The first results published on November 5 show the bathing water not only passed but has been classified as "good", exceeding the "sufficient" target John Spence, head of Water Quality and Environment at Southern Water, says: "This is fantastic news for Hastings and demonstrates just how successful this collaborative way of working can be. We were fortunate to have the support of the town's MP, Amber Rudd, who helped drive the collaboration. We are really pleased to have played our part in helping the town protect its bathing water and meet the new standards for water quality." Southern Water commis- sioned MWH to carry out a detailed review of all the historic investigations in TECHKNOW • Visual surveys and grab water samples were taken at every outfall that discharge to Alexandra park Stream • Sub-catchments were investigated to identify bacterial sources • The connectivity of more than 1,200 properties in Hastings were checked NEED TO KNOW 1 Removing indirect misconnections has reduced e. coli being discharged by 47.9 billion e. coli/day 2 The eA had predicted Hastings would be classified as "poor" for the 2015 bathing season 3 Southern Water has so far invested more than £3M in the work prOjECT SpECS • Hastings must achieve at least "sufficient" in the revised BWD classification • Review historic investigations and prioritise catchment areas for further research • Fix pollution sources leading affecting Hastings' bathing water quality • Foster collaboration and data sharing THE VErDICT "This is fantastic news for Hastings and demon- strates just how successful this collaborative way of working can be. We were fortunate to have the support of the town's Mp, Amber Rudd, who helped drive the collaboration" John Spence, Southern Water The Alexandra park Stream outfall discharging 60m from the bathing water sample point A heavily polluted cage removed from a surface water sewer Hastings in 2014 and prioritised areas of the catchment for fur- ther research. We took visual surveys and grab water sam- ples at every outfall in the catchment that discharge to Alexandra Park Stream to iden- tify key sources of pollution. Several sub-catchments were confirmed as being low risk to pollution following these surveys. The sub-catchments where pollution was present were prioritised to achieve the biggest impact in reducing the bacterial load discharging onto Hastings beach. These sub- catchments were thoroughly investigated to identify bacterial sources by means including strategic caging, manhole surveys, connectivity surveys and property surveys. Approximately 1,700 surface water manholes were successfully surveyed. A total of 125 defects to dual manholes, which have the potential to be a pollution source, have been identified to date and remediated. Misconnections Between 2014 and 2015 additional surveys commis- sioned by HBC, MWH and Southern Water collectively checked the connectivity of more than 1,200 properties in the town, revealing misconnec- tions at 85 properties. These included dishwashers, washing machines, sinks and 22 toilets. Details of all the private misconnections found have been passed to the council so they can contact homeowners and arrange for them to be corrected. Southern Water continues to carry out rectification works on the public network where issues

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