Surfing Waves

Hello,

I have just returned from Woolacombe.

There was a sewage like deposit on the beach towards Puts, (lots of it) and yesterday, Friday, the waves at Woolacombe were grey, with slime in them, which attached itself to the board. Is this sewage, what is going on, does anyone know?

All the best,
Pete

woolacombe is one of the cleanest of beaches on the north devon coast, im very curious as to what it could have been.

the slime it wasnt like a brown frothy foamy type stuff on the surface?

im sure papawoolacombe will be able to help out on this one

whatever it was it dont sound good. best hope it wasnt sewage some real nasties cling to that.

Hello,

It was a brown, slimy mess, on the sand near Putsborough, and in the sea in the shallow waves at Woolacombe.

Woolacombe is usualy sooo clean,

Any ideas?

Thanks for the replies to date,
Pete

Most likly to have been the sand scum wipped up by the rough conditions we've had the last few days... Not sewage...

I've spent several weeks at Wooly this year and have often noticed the scum in the shorebreak between the rockline and the stream. On a couple of occasions the scum appeared to be a suspension containing what looked like paper fibres (macerated loo paper?). When not in the sea I spend most of the day up on the cliffs above barricane and have noticed a brown stain appear close to the end of the new sewer pipe which then drifts down to mainbeach. I recon the pipe has caused a change in the local currents which are now picking up the sewage and dumping it on the beach. On the other hand Combes is a little cleaner this year!

Thats gross is there any way to complain?

I also noticed on the 'Blue Flag' board, that there was an orange or red entry (bad) from a few weeks ago. But when I went back to the board after seeing the stuff on the beach to check, it had been changed for a 'Green' all is good, sticker. Is there a conspiracy here, or have I had too much see and sun?
Does someone local know who to contact, (Parkin Estate maybe?)

All the best,
Pete.

You'd probably be able to smell it if it was sewage, but I'd be suspicious when you start seeing papers. I'd contact the Environment Agency. If the beach is popular then it is probably monitored under the EC Bathing Waters Directive. In Scotland SEPA monitor bathing waters of popular beaches each month during the summer season, if any fail the reasons why need to be looked at and action taken to rectify the problems.

If you had heavy rain recently there may have been use of some emergency sewer overflows. When sewers capacities fill up with rain quickly then emergency discharge pipes come into play, these discharge straight into rivers and the sea without going through treatment. The idea being, it's better to discharge into a stream than to have raw sewage backing up and pouring out manholes in the middle of towns.

The EA would be interested to hear of your concerns, get the number of your local office on their website.

might also be worth talking Surfers Agensted Sewege as well

Call the SAS...No, I am serious..

D'oh..I mean the Surfers against Sewage..Not those over-paid wetsuit wearing fannies..

Dec wrote: those over-paid wetsuit wearing fannies..

rofl

Does anyone have an answer, I thought that in a Surf forum, with people called Pappawoolacombe etc. that someone may be genuinely interested in the muck that we surf in, and have looked into it localy and have an answer.

The thread ended with bitchy comments against those that may care about our environment.

Wake up guys!

All the best,
Pete.

lol pete , dont take it personal duder but if you surf these areas a lot then it kinda becomes part of the charm:? and accepted that at certain times of the year the sewage levels do go up but they drop to an acceptble level too . This is not any different to the majority of the uk's and indeed the rest of the worlds coastlines.
There are plenty of organisations that will happily take any info you have that could update what is already known and im sure if you feel strongly enough about it they will happily welcome a new member to their organisation .. Surfers Against Sewage etc .
Croyde/ N devon water board or whoever is apparentely building a new Ultra Violet sterilisation plant to deal with its sewage treatment . A very simple and effective way of treating all of our water supplies .. unfortunately the same as most good ideas ..the suits wont rush into it as there is still far too much cash to be made pretending that all the chemical sewage treatment plants work ! ...

Go for it though bro .. if you feel strongly about this subject then go kick off a few letters and such .. every little helps

pete wrote:Does anyone have an answer, I thought that in a Surf forum, with people called Pappawoolacombe etc. that someone may be genuinely interested in the muck that we surf in, and have looked into it localy and have an answer.

The thread ended with bitchy comments against those that may care about our environment.

Wake up guys!

All the best,
Pete.

Like I said its the sand scum....
Additionally the little spate of heavy rain we had washed all the dust and silt buildup over the summer into the rivers and streams. This then clouded all the water once it mat the sea and added to the existing churing of the sand.
Over the last week its all made it down from the severn estruay... you can see the silted water on the tide line past morte point.

When it comes to the Bathing water directive its about as effective as a chocolate tea pot. The levels are way to leaniant... just read it though and you'll see.

It cetainly doesn't help when we get heavy rain but belive me when I say what you can see is about 1% of what you really need to worry about whereever you may be on our coasts.

Thanks everyone. It is just the first time in a few years that I have seen this at Wooly, and old me thought it was all soooo clean.

Happy surfing, keep well if you can,

Pete.

PapaWoolacombe wrote:
When it comes to the Bathing water directive its about as effective as a chocolate tea pot. The levels are way to leaniant... just read it though and you'll see.

I completely agree.

It anoys me that it is perfectly feasible for all sewage discharges to be of drinking water standards (wouldn't like that tasting job myself), but the government, or your local private water company don't wish to spend the money on decent treatment (okay, it would be huge amounts of cash needed). It is getting better, but slowly.

In response to Pete looking for serious answers, well three were given.

1. The EA, they will be able to tell you why this happened, (guarantee it will be first flush, if it is a pollution). They will want to know and will get in touch with any water companies that need told.

2. The SAS, they need this type of information to use in their campains.

3. The local water company, I wouldn't contact them first as their bonuses are no doubt dependent on pollution insidents being avoided, so it could be swept away.

Tell us how you got on!