Bathing Waters

Bathing waters in Scotland are designated by the Scottish Government, in accordance with the Bathing Water (Scotland) Regulations 2008. Each year new sites may be added to the list, prior to the designated bathing season from 1st June to 15th September. SEPA suggests the general criteria for designating bathing waters includes the site being popular among bathers, and waters that do not pose a risk to public health (i.e. being a safe body of water with limited to no pollution) (SEPA, 2024b). 

As of 2024, 89 bathing waters have been designated in Scotland - 8 of which lie in the East Grampian area (Scottish Government, 2024). SEPA (2024b) monitors pollution levels of all these bathing waters throughout the bathing season. They test for levels of E. coli and intestinal enterococci bacteria, and visualy assess levels of cyanobacteria, seaweed, phytoplankton and anything else of note. For each beach, their research offers a general classification based on the last bathing season's results, as well as daily predictions of water quality. This classification is split into four rankings: poor, sufficient, good, and excellent. 

Using the data available on the SEPA (2024a) website, we have calculated the following trends in Scottish bathing water quality since 2017 (note, the SEPA classification system is used as such: Poor = 1, Sufficient = 2, Good = 3, Excellent = 4):

• Scotland: Overall, Scottish bathing waters have seen an increase in average quality since 2017, from 2.87 to 3.25, increasing from an average of Sufficient to Good (fig. 1). It should be noted that the 2020 ratings were carried over from 2019, as the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted sampling. As of 2023, only two beaches in Scotland scored Poor: Kinghorn (Harbour Beach) and Lower Largo.  
• East Grampian Coast: Of the 8 bathing waters in the region the average trend since 2017 has been positive, rising from 3 to 3.63 (fig. 2). The small dip in 2021 seems to reflect a temporary dip in quality of Stonehaven beach from Good to Sufficient. When examining the trends of the beaches individually (fig. 3), Balmedie and Fraserburgh (Philorth) are shown to be the most consistent and cleanest, scoring Excellent every year. Of all 8 beaches, by 2023 only two had not achieved an Excellent classification – Collieston and Stonehaven. However, they most recently score a Good ranking, suggesting that designated bathing waters in the East Grampian area all range from Good to Excellent quality.