Although water company investment is obviously paying off, SAS will not be satisfied until the vast majority of beaches meet the guideline standard. In order for this to happen attention must focus not only on water industry discharges but also on diffuse pollution from sources such as agriculture. Without a joined up approach, involving all stakeholders, water quality issues will never be fully solved.

Questions over the mandatory standard of this directive have prompted a revision of the legislation in which the standard is set (the Bathing Water Directive). This revision is now underway in Europe and SAS hope what will emerge will be a more realistic standard that will do a better job of protecting the water user.
SAS are also pushing for the new directive to include a much more 'real time' approach so that rather than the general public being given a snapshot of water quality at a certain moment in time, they are given up to date information on water quality and warning of any dramatic changes in water quality, as they happen.

Vicky Garner of SAS said today;

" The reason why bathing waters are tested for sewage pollution is basically for public health reasons, if as SAS have said for years the standards against which the water is tested are not adequate to protect public health then clearly the standards are not good enough. So while we acknowledge the overall improvement in water quality in the UK, the need to update the standards can't be ignored. It's all well and good to shout about the an increase in the number of beaches meeting a standard, but if the standard is useless what exactly does it mean for the water user?"

" We know from research we carried out on the beaches over the Summer that what the public want is up to date information at beaches, telling them what the water quality is like on that day. SAS are urging legislators and politicians in Europe to ensure that the public are given the chance to make an informed choice about when and where they use the water".