Sea swimming: Does NI's bathing water need to be improved?

A festive swim is a tradition enjoyed by people all around Northern Ireland.

While some of those braving the Irish Sea or Atlantic Ocean do so for charity, others do it to shake off the Christmas food coma or just for fun.

But for many, it is not just for Christmas.

There has always been a hardcore group of people in Northern Ireland open water swimming in all seasons, but the activity saw a surge during lockdown.

The Outdoor Swimming Society saw its membership grow by 50% since January 2020.

The physical and mental health benefits of cold water swimming have been well documented.

But how good is the water itself?

Figures from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) show most areas that are tested in Northern Ireland are excellent or good.

However a number of popular bathing spots are not tested.

Figures obtained by Green Party MLA Rachel Woods reveal the amount of untreated sewage being dumped in our seas and rivers.

A Department for Infrastructure (DfI) answer to her written question showed on average more than seven million tonnes of raw sewage is being dumped into Northern Ireland's seas and rivers per year.

The spills occur during times of heavy rainfall when overflows are brought into action, and the department says any untreated sewage discharged will be highly diluted.

However Ms Woods told BBC News NI it was a "serious environmental public health issue".

NI Water plans to spend £2bn on infrastructure over the next six years but it has not yet been fully funded.

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"We know there is historic under-investment in infrastructure," Ms Woods told BBC News NI.

"We have to ensure that there is, in the new budget, enough money for sewage and effluent in the long term working towards what NI Water needs and what our system needs.

"I do a lot of beach cleans and we find so many things, like wet wipes and sanitary products, that have been flushed down the toilet."

Map showing sewage discharges around Northern Ireland

NI Water has said sewer networks have a finite capacity and are designed to overflow into receiving watercourses or the marine environment during periods of heavy rainfall to relieve pressure on the system.

It said safety valves were a necessary part of the sewer network and were standard practice.

In December, MLA for East Londonderry Claire Sugden asked if there were any plans to develop a coastal warning system which would alert bathers and other sea users of sewage discharges.

The DfI said NI Water had no plans or funding in place for such a scheme, adding it collaborated with stakeholders to improve bathing water quality and shared knowledge of bathing water risks.

They added that they continue to work through the Daera-led Better Beaches Forum, which has developed an action plan focussed on improving water quality.

In addition Daera has announced plans for a review of bathing waters next year.

Open water swimming has increased in popularity since the Covid-19 pandemic brought lockdown restrictions

Ms Woods pointed out that only certain areas are tested - and many popular swimming spots like those in Donaghadee are not on the list.

"People are out sea swimming all the time in certain areas that are not being monitored for water quality," she said.

"I'm from Hollywood and would swim in that area.

"Every year on Boxing Day myself and my friends jump off the pier - you don't know what the water quality is like until you get in."

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Author Martin Strain, 63, of the Chunky Dunkers in Donaghadee, County Down, is enjoying his 13th winter of open water swimming.

He has seen an explosion in its popularity in the last few years.

'Great sense of community'

The group started out with just a handful of brave souls but now there can be up to 100 people at their swims.

For Martin, the mental health aspect of swimming is the biggest benefit.

"It creates a great sense of community. If you have a common goal, like when it's not that easy to get in, it creates a unity that you aren't going to get in any other walk of life," he said.

While he said it was "frightening to think of that amount of pollution going into that water", he added they were "fortunate" to have excellent water in Donaghadee.

"The water we swim in 99 days out of 100 is very good and some of the best water you can get," he told BBC News NI.

For Martin Strain, swimming provides both a mental and physical boost but he would like to see water testing in his area

"However there would be occasional times - depending on whatever way the tide's flowing - you do get a bit of pollution.

"The council won't test the water as they say it's not a bathing water. We would love to see it tested to see if there ever is any pollution."

A spokeswoman for Ards and North Down Council said the council had six sites on the register - more than any other council area in Northern Ireland.

The council said NI Water had done much to improve the sewage system along the coast.

"If the council proposed Donaghadee as a site, it would have to comply with bathing water standards," the spokeswoman said.

"If the waters subsequently failed to meet these standards more than twice in a five-year period, then the waters would have to be declassified."

A separate Daera report in November showed none of Northern Ireland's rivers, lakes, transitional and coastal water bodies met overall "good" status - it is based on EU legislation and uses different criteria to assess water quality.

In 2018, 40% of coastal water bodies achieved good overall status. In 2021, no water bodies achieved good overall status.

Ulster Unionist Party MLA Alan Chambers asked the agriculture minister for his assessment of the cause of "high bacteria counts" in the bathing waters at Ballyholme Bay in Bangor.

The minister, Edwin Poots, said although the bacterial counts at Ballyholme were higher than elsewhere, the site still met the sufficient status under the bathing water regulations.

Mr Poots added that the standards were twice as stringent as was the case six years ago and there was evidence of year-on-year improvement.

"Ballyholme bathing water catchment was prioritised for investigation to determine outstanding sources of pollution in 2017.

"Continued investigations have determined that this is a complex catchment, which is vulnerable to pressures from both agricultural run-off, overflows from the wastewater (sewerage) network and misconnections from housing developments."

He added that through the Better Beaches Forum, improvement actions are underway, with further actions planned and NI Water is continuing with an extensive programme of upgrades to the wastewater network in the Bangor area.