2013 Bathing Water Profile for Pevensey Bay
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Pevensey Bay is a resort beach on the Sussex coast between Eastbourne and Hastings. The small town of Pevensey backs on to the beach. The beach is predominantly shingle, with shallow sand flats exposed at low water.
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East Sussex
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The Environment Agency carried out investigations into local sewerage arrangements and found high levels of contamination around Val Princeps Road. A survey confirmed that sewers around this area were leaking. Further CCTV investigations by SWS identified a defect in a private lateral sewer, which was repaired by 2001. Since water quality did not improve significantly, the Environment Agency carried out a series of surveys across the catchment in 2008 and 2009. However, the sources of contamination remain unclear. The Environment Agency recently introduced a DNA tracing technique that helps us identify whether sources of faecal pollution are human or animal. In 2009, this method was used at Pevensey Bay, enabling us to target further investigations and identify appropriate courses of corrective action.
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Eastbourne sewage treatment works discharges via a long sea outfall, which was built at Langney Point in 1996. Pevensey flows were transferred to the long sea outfall prior to the 1996 bathing season. The sewage works was upgraded in 2003.
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This bathing water does not have a history of large amounts of seaweed.
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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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Microscopic algae (phytoplankton) increase in number at certain times of the year. This process is known as a phytoplankton bloom. This bathing water has a history of phytoplankton blooms each spring. Blooms of phytoplankton can result in the water appearing discoloured or a foam forming on the water.
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2013 Bathing Water Profile for Pevensey Bay
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The river Salt Haven inputs into the sea through three outfall pipes just east of the bathing water. During and after periods of heavy rainfall, runoff from the extensive agricultural areas within the catchment will be greatly increased. There are four storm overflows in the river catchment, which discharge when heavy rainfall overwhelms the sewerage system and causes diluted sewage to overflow.
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In 2005, DEFRA launched the England Catchment Sensitive Farming Delivery Initiative in partnership with the Environment Agency and Natural England. The initiative aims to reduce the negative effect of farming operations on the quality of surface and ground water by raising farmer awareness and promoting catchment sensitive farming. It has put Catchment Sensitive Farming Officers into 40 priority catchments and resources them to help farmers improve farming practices and reduce water pollution from agriculture. Most of the Pevensey Levels are included as a priority catchment under the Catchment Sensitive Farming Delivery Initiative.
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SWS identified a defect in a private lateral sewer, which was repaired in 2001.
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The natural drainage (hydrological) catchment surrounding the bathing water is approximately 7400 hectares. It comprises the Pevensey Levels, a wide agricultural plane with a complex network of streams and ditches. There are small forested areas and some villages within the catchment, and the urban areas of Pevensey, Hailsham and parts of Eastbourne. The main river is Pevensey Haven. After a series of confluences with Chilley Stream, Old Haven and the Langney Sewer, it changes into Salt Haven and drains into the sea through three outfalls to the east of Pevensey Bay.
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Pevensey Bay
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Pevensey Bay
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Sampling point at Pevensey Bay
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565687
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50.80997428191775
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0.350368683032284
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103791
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Sampling point at Pevensey Bay
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2013:1
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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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