2015 Bathing Water Profile for Low Newton
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Low Newton Beach is a remote bathing water on the north Northumberland coast. The gently sloping sandy beach is 0.5 kilometres long with the Environment Agency sampling point to the northern end of the bay.
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Northumberland
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Environment Agency research suggests this bathing water does not have a history of large amounts of seaweed (macro algae).
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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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2015 Bathing Water Profile for Low Newton
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2015-09-30
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2015-05-01
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There are no sewage treatment outfalls within the bathing beach. Sewage from Low Newton and High Newton area is pumped to Embleton for treatment.
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Environment Agency samplers make observations of litter present on the beach at every visit, this includes assessments of sewage debris, litter and tar. At Low Newton for the four year (2012-2015) assessment period where data is available, sewage debris was not noted at this site. Litter was not assessed as being sufficient to be objectionable, but was observed as being present on 42% of visits. Tarry residue was not noted at this site.
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The natural drainage (hydrological) catchment surrounding the bathing water is approximately 22 square kilometres. The catchment is relatively flat and comprises mainly of mixed farming. There are a number of small communities within the catchment the majority of which have private sewage treatment arrangements.
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Low Newton
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Low Newton
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Sampling point at Low Newton
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424380
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55.513207709216196
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-1.615516489199073
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624450
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Sampling point at Low Newton
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p152 dT23 h59 m59 s
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2015 05 01 t00:00:00
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2015-05-01T00:00:00
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2015 09 30 t23:59:59
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2015-09-30T23:59:59
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2015 04000:1
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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 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 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 since the 1980s.
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