The beach is a long sand and shingle stretching curve, located west of the Pwllheli Harbour. The area is listed as the Lleyn Peninsula and the Sarnau Special Area of Conservation and the Mynydd Tir y Cwmwd a'r Glannau at Garreg yr Imbill Special Area of Conservation, confirming its high conservation status. The water quality sample point is located 70 metres east of the beach car park.
Investigations will be undertaken where and when necessary e.g. where there are elevated bacterial results in the bathing water that cannot be simply explained due to weather conditions.
There are a number of storm, emergency and surface water outfalls that discharge to the harbour. No problems have been traced back to these assets.
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. Seven CSOs near Pwllheli 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.
Natural Resources Wales and Gwynedd Council have worked together to improve the bathing water quality at Pwllheli over a number of years. This included tracing the sources of pollution from household toilet and utility misconnections to the private and public surface water system, discharging to Pwllheli.
Wrongly connected waste water pipes can affect the water quality of rivers and the sea. There are no known misconnection issues within the Pwllheli catchment.
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.
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.
Streams are typically affected by sewage or industrial run off from further up the catchment. The Rhyd-Hir and the Erch drain a significant area of the southern Lleyn, stretching out in opposite directions. The upper reaches of these catchments are mainly agricultural areas, which could provide a source of reduced water quality, after heavy rainfall.
A new sewage treatment works was installed in 1999/2000 at Carreg yr Imbyll / Gimblet Rock to treat the sewage from Pwllheli and Llanbedrog. Sewage effluent is treated to secondary standards and then receives additional treatment via ultra violet (UV) disinfection. UV disinfection is designed to kill the majority of the bacteria and viruses present in the treated effluent, prior to discharge out to sea to the south of Carreg yr Imbyll.
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 Pwllheli, data are available for the four year assessment period from 2020-2023. Sewage debris was not observed at this bathing water. Trace amounts of animal faeces were noted at the site on a minority of occasions. 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 surrounding the bathing water is semi urban, as the beach is next to the town of Pwllheli. This contains a number of commercial premises. The upper reaches of the catchments of the River Rhyd-Hir and the River Erch are predominately agricultural. Both rivers discharge to Pwllheli harbour.
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.
