Fylde Coast bathing waters re-open for swimmers
The Environment Agency have today (Thursday 29 June) lifted the restrictions on bathing in waters along the Fylde coast. Bathers are advised to check Swimfo so they can continue to make informed decisions about entering the water, including when and where to swim.
This follows more than two weeks of round the clock activity at Fleetwood wastewater treatment works where United Utilities engineers have put in place 2,000 metres of bypass pipework and the plant is now operating at near normal capacity.
The water company said storage levels have returned to normal in the Fylde Coast drainage system and recent rainfall has not overwhelmed the system. The last time any storm water was released into the sea was on Tuesday 20th June.
Beaches all along the coast had been designated too polluted to swim in and there had been reports of the deadly bacteria E coli.
Work to dig down and repair the 9 metre-deep fractured pipe is continuing at the site but this is not expected to have any further impact on local bathing waters.
Mark Garth, United Utilities Wastewater Services Director, said: “We have not spared any cost or resources in our response to what has been a hugely challenging incident. We are very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused for residents, visitors and businesses along the Fylde Coast and I want to thank everyone for their patience while the situation was resolved.
“A reduced number of tankers will continue to support our operations in some areas and I want to thank local residents for their ongoing patience. We will be contacting people direct to update them on tanker arrangements in their local area.
“We know people will have many questions about what happened, how we responded and what our longer term plans are to protect the environment. We are holding a series of drop-in sessions next week and we will provide further details about these when they are confirmed.”
There is still public anger at the discharges and the wider issue of storm overflows, and how safe ‘treated waste water’ is when it is discharged into the sea.
United Utilities didn’t face a public meeting as planned on Wednesday (28 June 2023) but have more public information sessions planned in the area.
