Bathing water quality compliance classification for use in bathing water quality reporting under the Bathing Water Directive - cBWD (76/0160/EEC)
For annual assessments "Fail" means that fewer than 95% of the samples meet the required mandatory standards of the cBWD Directive (76/0160/EEC).
Sample limits used are:
"Higher": TC: ≤500; FC: ≤100; FS: ≤100.
"Minimum": TC: ≤10000; FC: ≤2000; FS: N/A.
"Fail": TC: >10000; FC: >2000; FS: N/A.
TC= Total Coliforms, FC = Faecal Coliforms, FS = Faecal Streptococci.
All numeric limits are cfu/100ml
Bathing water quality compliance classification for use in bathing water quality reporting under the Bathing Water Directive - cBWD (76/0160/EEC)
For annual assessments "Higher" means the bathing water meets the criteria for the stricter UK guideline standards of the cBWD Directive (78/0160/EEC) (includes lower levels of concentrations and a third parameter (FS)).
Sample limits used are:
"Higher": TC: ≤500; FC: ≤100; FS: ≤100.
"Minimum": TC: ≤10000; FC: ≤2000; FS: N/A.
"Fail": TC: >10000; FC: >2000; FS: N/A.
TC= Total Coliforms, FC = Faecal Coliforms, FS = Faecal Streptococci.
All numeric limits are cfu/100ml
Bathing water quality compliance classification for use in bathing water quality reporting under the Bathing Water Directive - cBWD (76/0160/EEC)
For annual assessments "Minimum" means that at least 95% of the samples meet the mandatory standards of the cBWD Directive (76/0160/EEC).
Sample limits used are:
"Higher": TC: ≤500; FC: ≤100; FS: ≤100.
"Minimum": TC: ≤10000; FC: ≤2000; FS: N/A.
"Fail": TC: >10000; FC: >2000; FS: N/A.
TC= Total Coliforms, FC = Faecal Coliforms, FS = Faecal Streptococci.
All numeric limits are cfu/100ml
Article 5 of the Bathing Waters Directive allows the Environment Agency to disregard results that exceed the bathing water standards if they were affected by floods, other natural disasters or abnormal weather conditions.
This applies to both the mandatory and guideline bathing water quality standards.
Our monitoring policy requires us to take bathing water samples according to a pre-determined timetable. We don't avoid taking samples because there is a forecast of wet weather. If it subsequently happens that there is a mandatory exceedence and the sample was affected by abnormally wet weather, flooding or natural disaster, we will make an application for a waiver. If the application is successful the sample result will be disregarded when we assess compliance but it will not be removed from our public register.
Our policy for waiving bathing water results as a result of abnormal weather conditions has been agreed with Defra.
Abnormal weather for the purposes of the Bathing Water Directive is defined as a storm event with return period of at least 1 in 5 years. A storm event will usually have occurred between 1 to 48 hours before the sample was taken (exceptionally upto 72 hours for larger catchments). We use rainfall data from rain-gauges that are representative of the bathing water catchment and approved by the Met Office. We then use this data to make an assessment based on the 1 in 5 year criteria.
The sample results displayed in the 'What's in your Backyard' section of our website only hold the results used to assess Bathing Water Directive compliance. When a waiver is granted the result is removed from this site but is still available to the public through our public register.
A skos:ConceptScheme for count qualifier code points. Count qualifier codes indicate whether an actual count or upper/lower bounds to detection are being reported.
A boolean valued attribute to indicate that a sample assessment is eligible to be discounted (discountable=true) from annual Compliance Assessments. This attribute is updated throughout the season, and is required to show where a sample meets the criteria to be eligible for discounting. The absence of a value for this attribute indicates that a judgment on whether the sample is discountable is pending. This may occur several days after first publication of sample assessment result.
An boolean valued attribute on a discountable :SampleAssessment which indicates that it has been discounted (discounted=true) for use in annual Compliance Assessments. This attribute may be present on a discountable sample assessment. It reflects a descision made at the end of the season in which the sample was taken as to whether to actually discount (discounted=true) a discountable sample assessment from annual Compliance Assessments.