Bathing Water Quality

The Government Laboratory tests seawater from 19 sites around the Island for compliance with the European Union Directive concerning bathing water quality. European Law is not applied directly to the Island but in March, 1990, the Government of the Isle of Man took the decision to adopt the same standards. The most important provisions of the EU Directive (76/160/EEC) deal with the contamination of bathing water by sewage.

The sites that are monitored are not necessarily all bathing beaches in the sense of being beaches where people regularly swim, with facilities to support that activity, but they are beaches from which it is known that people do bathe or participate in sports that can involve or result in immersion and possible ingestion of water.

For each summer season a chart is prepared showing the quality of the water in a "traffic-light" manner. This chart is displayed at the main bathing beaches, and is also available for download below, commencing each year by mid May and continuing through to mid September. The chart is updated weekly.

Assessing Water Quality

The major influence on bathing water quality on Isle of Man beaches is the discharge of untreated sewage to sea, which releases large numbers of micro-organisms into the sea water. These micro-organisms include bacteria and viruses and some are pathogenic and responsible for infectious diseases, skin irritations and gastro-enteritis. The most numerous organisms in sewage are however the non-pathogenic, coliforms, and the detection and quantification of coliforms is the basis of the regular testing of bathing waters.

Collection of seawater samples from the beaches is arranged by the Department of Local Government and the Environment's Environmental Protection Unit (EPU). More information about the work of the EPU with regard to bathing water quality, including information about the current position with regard to sewage discharges, is available on that Unit's website. Click here for a link.

Bathing Water Standards

A bathing water complies with the EU Directive’s mandatory standards if 95% of the samples taken throughout the bathing season have:-

less than 10,000 coliforms per 100ml
less than 2,000 Faecal Coliforms per 100ml
no abnormal colour
no visible film of oil
no lasting foam
no odour of phenols
no visible tarry substances

Download a copy of the most recent Bathing Water Quality Chart (updated weekly throughout the bathing season), or the detailed end of year Report from the Downloadable documents table at the bottom of the page.

For further details contact: