2013 Bathing Water Profile for Seaton Carew North
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Seaton Carew is a small resort on Tees Bay to the south of Hartlepool. Seaton Carew North is the northern end of an extensive sandy beach fronting the town.
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Hartlepool
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We are working with Northumbrian Water to identify the source(s) of pollution that have led to the recent deterioration in bathing water quality.
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Bathing water quality may sometimes be affected by discharges from storm outfalls. Storm overflows may operate during and after rainfall when the sewerage system can be overwhelmed by the amount of surface water entering it. These overflows prevent sewage from backing up pipes and flooding properties. Overflows discharging into streams and along the shore can also contribute. The outfall from an overflow at Mainsforth Terrace, which also carries the Burn Valley stream, has broken. It is unclear whether this changes the impact of the CSO on bathing water but constraints imposed on when it can be mended (because it is in a Special Protection Area, designated under the EC Birds Directive) mean that it has yet to be fixed. Other overflows discharge to the Stell but have done so for 20 years during which bathing water quality has improved. Whether these have changed recently is included in the current investigations.
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Sewage from Seaton Carew and Hartlepool was discharged to sea via a number of short sea outfalls until 1993. A long sea outfall was constructed then and these flows were diverted over three kilometres offshore to improve and protect bathing water quality at the Seaton Carew beaches. In 2000, a treatment works was built at Seaton Carew and the sewage flowing to the long sea outfall has since received full treatment and disinfection using ultraviolet light. In 2007, the discharge from Billingham Sewage Treatment Works was diverted from its previous location to this long outfall to ensure that it had no adverse effect on the ecologically important area at Seal Sands. However, in recent years, bathing water quality has declined, leading to renewed investigations by both Environment Agency and Northumbrian Water.
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Environment Agency research suggests this bathing water does not have a history of large amounts of seaweed (macroalgae).
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Modern sewerage systems have two separate systems, one takes foul sewage to sewage treatment, the other takes rainwater runoff through surface water drains to rivers, lakes and the sea. Misconnections occur when waste water pipes are plumbed into surface water drains instead of the foul water sewerage system. This can give rise to pollution when the waste water is discharged directly to the environment through the surface water drain. For example, a washing machine or toilet may be incorrectly plumbed so that it discharges to the surface drain rather than the foul sewage drain.
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Environment Agency research suggests this bathing water does not have a history of phytoplankton blooms.
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2013 Bathing Water Profile for Seaton Carew North
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The Stell crosses the bathing water. There are a number of consented discharges to this watercourse which may impair water quality during and immediately after heavy rain. The current investigations include determining whether anything has altered which would increase their impact on bathing water quality to explain the observed deterioration.
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The location of the outfall and the high level of treatment means that those close to Seaton Carew have negligible effect on bathing water quality
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The beach is close to the mouth of the River Tees, which has a catchment of approximately 2000 square kilometres. It rises in Pennine moorland, draining a largely agricultural catchment before reaching the sea via an urban/industrial estuary. Within this, smaller streams drain an area of approximately 18 square kilometres, mainly the southern half of Hartlepool and reach the sea close to this designated beach and are probably more relevant.
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Seaton Carew North
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Seaton Carew North
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Sampling point at Seaton Carew North
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452601
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54.66466849885708
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-1.186040311789457
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530257
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Sampling point at Seaton Carew North
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2013:1
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Seaweed (macroalgae) and phytoplankton (microscopic algae) are a natural part of the marine and freshwater environment. Below we note whether these have been recorded in quantities sufficient to be a nuisance.
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The majority of sewers in England and Wales are “combined sewers” and carry both sewage and surface water from roofs and drains. A storm overflow operates during heavy rainfall when the sewerage system becomes overwhelmed by the amount of surface water. The overflow prevents sewage from backing up pipes and flooding properties and gardens. An emergency overflow will only operate infrequently, for example due to pump failure or blockage in the sewerage system.
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Heavy rain falling on pavements and roads often flows into surface water drains or highway drains, ending up in local rivers and, ultimately, the sea. The quality of bathing water may be adversely affected as a result of such events.
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It is the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales role to drive improvement of water quality at bathing waters that are at risk of failing European standards. It is natural for water to run off the land to the sea. Water quality at a bathing water is dependent upon the type and area of land (the catchment) draining to the water and the activities undertaken in that catchment.
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Discharges from sewage treatment works have improved substantially in England and Wales since the 1980s.
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