A popular beach in the Vale of Glamorgan is still classed as one of the worst for bathing water quality in the whole of Wales. Ogmore-by-Sea beach and Watch House Bay were given ‘poor’ ratings for bathing water quality by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) in early 2024.
Following further sampling, Watch House Bay in Barry is now classed as ‘sufficient’. However, Ogmore-by-Sea beach is still classed as ‘poor’. The only other bathing designated beach currently rated as ‘poor’ for bathing water quality in Wales is Rhyl.
Vale of Glamorgan Council ward member for St Bride’s Major, Cllr Joanna Protheroe, said: “We are, as you would imagine, still really upset to have a poor water quality rating.” Fore more stories, sign up to our newsletter here.
However, the councillor, speaking at a Vale of Glamorgan Council environmental scrutiny committee meeting on Tuesday, January 14, added that it was something that did not surprise the community. Ogmore-by-Sea beach was designated for bathing in 2023.
Cllr Protheroe added: “The community council campaigned to get the bathing water status in the first place because we know that there have been issues, so the fact that we have a continuing poor water quality rating is not surprising, though very disappointing. I know that this isn’t something Welsh Water wants and it is certainly not something that NRW wants.” Bathing water quality ratings at Welsh beaches are based on the levels of bacteria detected in samples taken there.
Ogmore-by-Sea beach is next to the River Ogmore and Pen-y-Bont wastewater treatment works is located about a mile upstream. Storm overflows, which is when excess rainwater and wastewater is released into the sea or a river to relieve pressure on the water system, is also known to affect water quality.
However, officials at NRW and Welsh Water told members of Vale of Glamorgan Council’s environmental scrutiny committee meeting that there are a number of reasons that could be affecting levels of bacteria at Ogmore-by-Sea. Talking about some of the findings from sampling work carried out at Ogmore-by-Sea, NRW operations manager, David Letellier, said it is not necessarily the river that’s responsible.
He added: “There are many reasons as to why a sample could fail, which is not just down to the usual suspects.” Other potential reasons, which are yet to be proven, could include dogs being walked on the beach or large colonies of birds. One of the biggest challenges that NRW faces, according to Mr Letellier, is something called misconnections.
Vale Council had to prohibit bathing at Ogmore-by-Sea after NRW became aware of an unusual pollution source
(Image: Mark Lewis)
This is when houses are not properly connected to wastewater treatment works, leading to wastewater being transported directly into rivers. Mr Letellier went on to say that the overall picture for bathing water quality in Wales is a positive one, with more than 70 designated beaches rated ‘excellent’.
However, in relation to Ogmore-by-Sea, he stressed that it can take time for improvements to take effect, adding: “It will come good… but it does take time.” A Vale of Glamorgan Council report states that NRW declared an “abnormal situation” at Ogmore-by-Sea in May 2024.
This happens when NRW becomes aware of an unusual pollution source that could impact on a bathing water and, in the case of Ogmore-by Sea, required the council to install additional signage prohibiting swimming in the sea. The abnormal situation was not lifted by NRW until June 18, 2024.
Vale of Glamorgan Council said it has not been made aware of the reason for this unusual pollution incident, and investigations by NRW are ongoing. Welsh Water has a programme of investments planned to try and improve water quality across the country.
This includes £1.1bn it plans to spend on improving storm overflows. Environmental advisor at Welsh Water, Jennifer Grubb, said an investigation into Ogmore-by-Sea will be commencing “relatively soon”.
Vale of Glamorgan Council environmental scrutiny committee member, Cllr Susan Lloyd Selby, said: “We are really concerned about the continued poor water quality at Ogmore. You spoke about the fact that investment takes a long time and I think everybody understands that, but residents don’t want to be in a position where water quality is still poor in the Vale over the coming years and so I think… we are looking for reassurances around that.”
Mr Grubb said she understood the concerns of the committee and residents about Ogmore-by-Sea beach, adding: “Investment takes time, but not just investment. Investigation takes time.
“I have talked a lot about our assets and… our planned investment coming up, but the really key part that we need to do within this cycle is to investigate the causes of that failure. It may be that it is around storm overflows operating, it may be that it is due to diffused run off from the land somewhere.
“It could be… the bird population. What we need to do is establish where that bacteria is coming from and then target investments to resolve it. We all want to see quick improvement… but what we need to do is understand where it is coming from first.”