2014 Bathing Water Profile for Llyn Padarn
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The bathing water is located on the western side of Llyn Padarn, which is a fresh water lake in Snowdonia. It is located close to the village of Llanberis with its cafes and other tourist attractions. The beach has a shallow slope and then once in the water it gets deep quite quickly – up to 1 metre deep within 1.5 metres of entering the water. The beach is gravelly. Once in the water the substrate consists of gravel and small pieces of slate which turns into stones and larger slates within a metre or two of entering the water. The site has a jetty which was previously used in the London Olympics.
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Gwynedd
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NRW continues to work to identify and resolve sources of pollution around the Llyn Padarn catchment. Some of this work is carried out in partnership with Gwynedd County Council and Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. Investigations are carried out both pre-season (before the 1st of May) and mid season if required (during the bathing water season).
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There are four intermittent discharges in the Llanberis catchment. Llanberis Sewage Treatment Works discharges settled storm sewage into the Afon-y-Bala at the same location as the final effluent discharge from the sewage treatment works. Two pumping stations and a storm overflow, located around the town of Llanberis itself, discharge intermittently under storm or emergency conditions. These discharges drain indirectly to Llyn Padarn via surface water courses.
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NRW has developed a good working relationship with Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water and liaises regularly to identify problems that could affect bathing water quality.
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NRW and Gwynedd County Council have been working together to improve the water quality at Llyn Padarn for a number of years. This work includes tracing the sources of pollution from domestic toilet and utility misconnections that discharge to the private and public surface water system, and subsequently enter the lake.
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Wrongly connected waste water pipes can affect the water quality of rivers and the sea. Misconnections in the Padarn catchment, have been investigated and resolved, and any further suspected misconnections will be investigated as they arise.
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Phytoplankton (microscopic algae) naturally increase in number at certain times of the year. This process is known as a phytoplankton bloom. Algal Blooms can occur in lakes as a result of a combination of factors including climate, nutrients and background conditions. Llyn Padarn has experienced algal blooms in the past. In June 2009, a dense bloom of the blue green alga Anabaena, was recorded in Llyn Padarn. As a result of this the lake was closed to recreation for several months.
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2014 Bathing Water Profile for Llyn Padarn
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Streams and rivers are typically affected by sewage or industrial run off from further up the catchment. Monitoring of the tributaries of Llyn Padarn has taken place in recent years, and data obtained has helped identify where there may be point source and diffuse pollution entering the lake, and consequently to target work effort to reduce the effects.
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Llanberis Sewage Treatment Works discharges secondary treated final effluent into the Afon-y-Bala, just upstream of where it drains into Llyn Padarn. Chemical dosing and sand filtration at the sewage treatment works provide additional treatment, removing excess nutrients from the effluent prior to discharge. Upstream of Llanberis, is Nant Peris Sewage Treatment Works. This is a small works serving a population of just over 100, which discharges secondary-treated effluent into the River Seiont, which drains into the Afon-y-Bala via a tunnel.
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Dinorwig Hydropower Station is the main industrial operation in the Llyn Padarn catchment. This site discharges into Llyn Peris, upstream of Llyn Padarn as part of its hydropower generation. During periods of high rainfall, when there is excess water in Llyn Peris, the lake spills into the Afon-y-Bala which drains down into Llyn Padarn.
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Officers have visited private dischargers, including domestic properties, local youth hostels, and also local hotels, to ensure that where wastewater is not discharged to the sewerage network, it receives appropriate treatment prior to discharge to surface water. Pen y Pass youth hostel is currently upgrading its treatment plant to ensure effluent being discharged is of an appropriate quality.
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The natural drainage (hydrological) catchment immediately surrounding the bathing water is largely rural, however the village of Llanberis is located to the southeast at the foot of Mount Snowdon. Within the catchment sheep farming dominates the landscape, as well as a number of disused quarries, and the Dinorwig Hydropower Works. Away from Llanberis, properties are mainly scattered across the valley, with the small villages of Nant Peris and Fachwen also draining into the lake. Llyn Padarn is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the presence of three key features : • Arctic charr - a rare fish that became isolated in the lake after the last Ice Age ended • The nationally scarce water plant Floating Water-plantain • Cambrian rocks exposed in a railway cutting and inland outcrops which are of national geological importance.
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2014 39975:1
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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 NRW’s 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 and into rivers and lakes, however 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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