Environment Agency - Home

Causes of bathing water pollution

Find out more about the factors that can contribute to poor bathing water quality.

The five main causes of bathing water pollution are:

Water gushing out of an outfall pipe set into a cliff

Pollution from sewerage - sewage can enter our waters as a result of system failures or overflows.

 

 

 

A cow by a leaking troughWater draining from farms and farmland – manure from livestock or poorly stored slurry can wash into rivers and streams resulting in faecal material entering the sea.

 

 

 

Street in Cockermouth midflood. Image provided by Cumbrian Newspapers Ltd.

Water draining from populated areas - water draining from urban areas following heavy rain can contain pollution from a variety of sources, including animal faeces on roads.

 

 

Domestic sewage

Domestic sewage – misconnected drains and leaking septic tanks can cause waste water to enter surface water systems.

 

 

 

black dog running on a beach

Animals and birds - dog, donkey, bird and other animal faeces can affect bathing water as they often contain high levels of bacteria (much higher than human waste).

 

 

Find out how we are helping to make further improvements to bathing water quality: