The beach is south facing, made up of sand and pebbles, located to the west of Porthmadog and backed by a promenade. The water quality sample point is located opposite the public toilets. The bathing water lies within the Lleyn Peninsula and the Sarnau Special Area of Conservation. To the east is the Tiroedd a Glannau Rhwng Cricieth AC Afon Glaslyn Site of Special Scientific Interest, and to the west is the Glanllynnau a Glannau Pen-ychain I Cricieth Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Natural Resources Wales work where and when necesary to establish sources of pollution around Criccieth. Some of this work is carried out in partnership with Gwynedd Council and Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. These are carried out pre-season (before the 15th of May) and mid season, if required (during the bathing water season). Additional bacterial monitoring may be undertaken on the streams draining onto the beach in an effort to identify potential sources of bacterial contamination. Investigations in 2019 and 2021 did not find any elevated results on these streams.
There are several storm discharges in the Criccieth catchment. There are 2 combined sewer overflows that discharge within 200 metres of the designated bathing beach. To the east of the beach, is Criccieth East Pumping Station, with the Criccieth West Pumping Station a kilometre to the west. All of these discharge directly to coastal waters through short outfalls.
A project known as Event Duration Monitoring (EDM) was undertaken to install telemetry on Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) within 2km of a bathing water by 2020 so that Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water (DCWW) know when the CSOs are operating and can work to reduce spills. Five CSOs near Criccieth were included in the project.
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. Criccieth Sewage Treatment Works is located approximately 1.5 kilometres west of the main town and discharges treated effluent via a long sea outfall.
Dŵr Cymru found that several hundred metres of sewer in the middle of Criccieth had become damaged and was likely to leak sewage into the ground next to a stream running down onto the beach. As a consequence they completely replaced 200 metres of sewer and bacteria levels have subsequently dropped down to background levels. This was done in 2012.
Natural Resources Wales and Gwynedd Council have worked together to improve the bathing water quality at Criccieth over a number of years. This has included tracing the sources of pollution from household toilet and utility misconnections to the private and public surface water system that discharge into Criccieth 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. There are no known misconnections in the Criccieth area.
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 at any beach during the bathing season and are usually noticeable by a surface scum. This beach has no history of such blooms.
This bathing water is subject to short term pollution. Short term pollution is caused when heavy rainfall washes faecal material into the sea from livestock, sewage and urban drainage via rivers and streams. At this site the risk of encountering reduced water quality increases after rainfall and typically returns to normal after 1-3 days. Natural Resources Wales makes daily pollution risk forecasts based on rainfall patterns and will issue a pollution risk warning if heavy rainfall occurs to enable bathers to avoid periods of increased risk. Natural Resources Wales works to reduce the sources of this pollution through pollution prevention measures, work with agriculture and water companies. At Criccieth there were a total of 14 warnings of a pollution risk forecast during the 2023 bathing water season, with 1 sample being taken on a day that coincided with these warnings.
Streams are typically affected by sewage or industrial run off from further up the catchment. The main streams that have an impact on the bathing waters of Criccieth are Penpaled, Ffrwd y Brain, Nant y Wyddan and Ceunant Ddu, all of which run through agricultural areas and may be a source of reduced water quality after heavy rainfall. Investigations in 2021 did not find any elevated results in the Nant y Wyddan and Ceunant Du stream.
Criccieth Sewage Treatment Works provides tertiary treatment with ultra violet disinfection prior to discharge, which protects the bathing water quality.
Natural Resources Wales samplers make visual observations of the beach at every visit. This includes assessments of sewage debris, animal faeces, litter and oil or tar. At Criccieth, data are available for the four year assessment period from 2020-2023. Sewage debris was not observed at this bathing water. Animal faeces was not noted at this site. Trace amounts of litter were observed at the bathing water on over fifty per cent of occasions. Oil and tarry residues were not noted at this site.
Natural Resources Wales continues to work with private owners regarding 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 private sewage systems in Wales was required by 30 June 2012. The primary aim of this exercise was to provide increased protection for the environment and sensitive features such as bathing water beaches. Where properties were identified in the catchment that were not on mains sewerage, Natural Resources Wales endeavoured to ensure registration was made
The natural drainage (hydrological) catchment immediately behind the beach is urban, consisting of the main town of Criccieth. The town extends approximately 800 metres inland and a kilometre east and west of the beach. Behind the town, managed grassland dominates the catchment with pockets of forestry and woodland.
The Penpaled and Ffrwd y Brain watercourses are culverted through parts of Criccieth, before flowing onto the beach near to the designated sample point.
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.
The majority of sewers in 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.
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.
It is 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. The following sections serve to highlight potential sources of pollution, conditions under which they may arise and measures being put in place to improve water quality.
