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Interactive bathing water cleanliness map published

An interactive map showing how clean bathing waters are at 500 sites across England and Wales has been published. Profiles have also been created for each site, helping bathers make more informed choices about the best locations to visit and enjoy.

Last year, a record number of beaches and inland bathing waters in England and Wales reached the highest European standards in water quality. 

Over eight in ten beaches met the EU ‘guideline’ standard across England and Wales – compared to just three in ten in 1990.

To help bathers find the best beaches and inland bathing waters, the Environment Agency has created a new interactive map.

This shows how clean the water is at 500 sites across England and Wales.

Individual profiles have also been created for each site, complete with maps, photos and descriptions of the beach and surrounding area, rivers and streams feeding into the site.

You can also find links to the latest water quality results and pollution management plans for each site.

Andy Cummins, campaigns director for Surfers Against Sewage, said: "The new bathing water profiles are a significant step forward in the provision of public information about important coastal environments.

"These bathing water profiles will not make the water cleaner, but they will allow beach users to make more informed decisions about when is best to use the water and the information to know when it might be better to give it a miss due to pollution incidents."

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