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| pollution risk forecasting |
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| bathing water description |
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.
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| county name |
Gwynedd |
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| eso outfalls statement |
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.
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| history statement |
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.
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| investigations statement |
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.
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| local authority statement |
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.
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| macro algae statement |
This bathing water does not have a history of large amounts of seaweed (macroalgae). |
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| misconnections statement |
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.
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| phytoplankton statement |
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.
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| pollution risk forecast statement |
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.
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| source |
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| stw outfalls statement |
Criccieth Sewage Treatment Works provides tertiary treatment with ultra violet disinfection
prior to discharge, which protects the bathing water quality.
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| version string |
1 |
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| visible pollution statement |
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.
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| zoi description |
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.
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| bathing water |
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| local authority |
Gwynedd - Gwynedd |
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| standard language collection |
2023-39700:1
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| algae general statement |
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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| eso outfalls general statement |
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.
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| local authority general statement |
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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| pollution management general statement |
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.
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| stw outfalls general statement |
Discharges from sewage treatment works have improved substantially in Wales since
the 1980s.
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| web res image |
ukl1200-39700_1-webres.jpg |
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