PREDICTION AND DISSEMINATION OF BATHING WATER QUALITY IN ENGLAND -A PILOT STUDY

摘要

Water quality at some bathing waters can be adversely affected by heavy rainfall resulting from water running off the land, picking up faecal contaminants from the catchment and discharging this to bathing waters. The Environment Agency of England analysed the relationship between water quality and rainfall at each bathing site. The relationship between rainfall and water quality depends on the intensity and duration of the rainfall and site specific characteristics such as tidal flows, wind, and the response time of the surrounding catchment. This paper describes a pilot study for setting up an operational bathing water quality prediction system for England using Delft-FEWS undertaken during the bathing period between June and September 2013. Around 30 bathing sites were selected for this pilot study. Each bathing site was associated with a telemetered rain gauge measurement station. The water quality at a bathing site was considered low risk if the rainfall total at the associated rain gauge station was below a site specific threshold and increased risk if the threshold was exceeded. The prediction of water quality at each bathing site was displayed via appropriately dated beach signage every morning at 10 am BST for the day.