Facing north east and located within the waters of Cardigan Bay, New Quay Harbour is backed by steep limestone cliffs and the town of New Quay. The beach is small, sandy and sheltered by the harbour wall. The coastal waters and coastal belt are designated as the Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation and Aberarth Cerreg Wylan Site of Special Scientific Interest, confirming the high conservation status of the area. The water quality sample point is located to the centre of the beach.
Natural Resources Wales continues to work with Ceredigion County Council and Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water to establish sources of pollution around the beach.
Inspections are carried out by Natural Resources Wales in partnership with the local authority and the water company. These are carried out pre-season (before the 15th of May) and mid season if required (during the bathing water season).
New Quay is potentially impacted by numerous storm, emergency and surface water outfalls within the main freshwater inputs, particularly during heavy rainfall.
Within the catchment of New Quay Harbour bathing water, there are numerous storm, emergency and surface water outfalls that discharge into the coastal streams. These protect domestic properties from being flooded by sewage during heavy rainfall. However, sewer overflows operating during and following periods of heavy rain can result in a deterioration in the quality of the water in the streams and at New Quay Harbour bathing water.
In recent years, telemetry equipment has been installed in most of the overflows by the water company. This technology has allowed Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water to respond to warnings of blockages in the sewage system and has reduced the number of actual and potential overflows.
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. One CSO near New Quay Harbour was included in this 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 Ceredigion County Council work together to improve the bathing water quality at New Quay. NRW are working closely with the Local Authority to investigate and correct missconnection issues in New Quay.
Wrongly connected waste water pipes can affect the water quality of rivers and the sea. Natural Resources Wales has worked with Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water and Ceredigion County Council to trace the sources of pollution from household toilet and utility misconnections to the private and public surface water system, discharging to New Quay Harbour bathing water.
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. These algal blooms can occur at any beach during the bathing season and are usually noticeable by a surface scum. This beach does not have a history of such blooms.
Streams are typically affected by sewage or industrial run off from further up the catchment. New Quay is influenced by a number of small unnamed streams that flow directly into the bathing water. High flows in streams, rivers and sewers due to heavy rainfall affects water quality in the bay. NRW officers have been investigating and sampling the small unnamed streams flowing on to harbour beach to establish any potential pollution issues.
Sewage from New Quay is pumped to Llanina Sewage Treatment Works, approximately 1.5 kilometres along the coast, to the east of the beach. This discharges via a long sea outfall to the coastal waters at Cardigan Bay, to protect 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 New Quay Harbour, 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 between twenty and thirty percent of occasions. Oil and tarry residues were not noted at this site.
Pollution prevention visits have been undertaken by Natural Resources Wales at agricultural premises throughout the catchment. As part of this process, Natural Resources Wales assessed slurry and manure storage, and potential sources of contamination from farm yards which could adversely impact bathing waters. Advice and guidance has been given to farm owners about responsibly managing nutrients, and where needed, improvements are identified and implemented through voluntary and regulatory means.
Natural Resources Wales continues to work with private owners regarding potential pollution sources. 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 qualifying private sewage systems in Wales was required by 30 June 2012. The primary aim of this exercise is to provide increased protection for the environment and sensitive features such as bathing water beaches. Where discharges from properties are identified in the catchment that are not on mains sewerage, Natural Resources Wales will endeavour to ensure registration has been made, unless already a permitted discharge.
The natural drainage (hydrological) catchment surrounding the bathing water is heavily influenced by tourism, with large caravan sites located along the coastal belt. Most of the area is residential property and agriculture and a number of small streams flow onto and around the beach.
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.
