2014 Bathing Water Profile for Traeth Gwyn New Quay
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Facing north and located within the waters of Cardigan Bay, Traeth Gwyn is a sandy cove, backed by steep cliffs. The surrounding landscape is made up of agricultural land, caravan parks and the village of New Quay, less than 1 kilometre away. The coastal waters and coastal belt are designated as the Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation and Aberarth Cerreg Wylan Site of Special Scientific Interest, confirming the high conservation status of the area. The water quality sample point is located at the centre of the beach.
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Ceredigion
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Natural Resources Wales continues to work with Ceredigion County Council and Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water to establish sources of pollution around the beach. Inspections are carried out by Natural Resources Wales in partnership with the local authority and the water company. These are carried out pre-season (before the 1st of May) and mid-season if required (during the bathing water season).
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Traeth Gwyn is potentially impacted by numerous storm, emergency and surface water outfalls within the main freshwater rivers particularly during heavy rainfall. Within the catchment of Traeth Gwyn bathing water, there are numerous storm, emergency and surface water outfalls that discharge to the coastal streams. These protect domestic properties from being flooded by sewage during heavy rainfall. However sewer overflows operating during and following periods of heavy rain can result in a fall in the quality of the water in the streams and at Traeth Gwyn bathing water. In recent years, telemetry equipment has been installed in most of the overflows by Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. This technology has allowed Dŵr Cymru to respond to warnings of blockages in the sewage system and has reduced the number of actual and potential overflows.
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Natural Resources Wales 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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Natural Resources Wales have been working together to improve the bathing water quality at Traeth Gwyn for a number of years.
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This bathing water does not have a history of large amounts of seaweed (macroalgae).
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Wrongly connected waste water pipes can affect the water quality of rivers and the sea. Natural Resources Wales has worked with and Ceredigion County Council and Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water to trace the sources of pollution from household toilet and utility misconnections to the private and public surface water system that discharge into Traeth Gwyn bathing waters. 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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Phytoplankton (microscopic algae) naturally increase in number at certain times of the year. This process is known as a phytoplankton bloom. These algal blooms can occur at any beach during the bathing season and are usually noticeable by a surface scum. This beach does not have a history of such blooms.
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2014 Bathing Water Profile for Traeth Gwyn New Quay
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Streams are typically affected by sewage or industrial run off from further up the catchment. Traeth Gwyn is influenced by a number of small unnamed streams and also by the Afon Halen and Afon Felen that flow directly onto and around the bathing water. High flows in streams, rivers and sewers due to heavy rainfall affects water quality in the bay.
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Sewage from Traeth Gwyn is pumped to Llanina Sewage Treatment Works, less than 1 kilometre up the coast, to the east of the beach. This discharges via a long sea outfall, to the coastal water at Cardigan Bay, to protect bathing water quality.
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Natural Resources Wales continues to work with private owners to address potential pollution sources to the bathing water. This work involves where necessary, advisory mail drops, dye tracing, misconnection surveys and face to face meetings. Poorly maintained private sewage treatment facilities could be a source of pollution, therefore the registration of all qualifying private sewage systems in Wales was required by 30 June 2012. The primary aim of this exercise is to provide increased protection for the environment and sensitive features such as bathing water beaches. Where discharges from properties are identified in the catchment that are not on mains sewerage, Natural Resources Wales will endeavour to ensure registration has been made, unless already a permitted discharge.
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The natural drainage (hydrological) catchment surrounding the bathing water is heavily influenced by tourism, with large caravan sites located along the coastal belt. Most of the area is residential property and agriculture and a number of small streams, including the Afon Halen and the Afon Felen flow onto and around the beach.
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2014 38700:1
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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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