ON more than one occasion last summer, notices were posted in Newcastle to advise people against swimming in the sea because of the poor quality of the water. The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has said climate change means this is likely to happen again. With that in mind, the Mourne Observer contacted a number of local swimmers to ask them if they were concerned about the future of open water swimming.
While they feel there is an issue that needs to be addressed, there was a mix of opinions on how serious the issue is, what the reasons are, and how it should be tackled. John Irwin is a masters competitive open water swimmer. He may also be familiar to many as the North’s oldest beach lifeguard, after taking on the role last year for the RNLI. He has been living in Kilkeel for the past few years and has noticed changes to water quality in rivers, streams, lakes and the sea. “I have joined the Annalong High Tide swimmers,” John said. “We go over at the weekend and get in for a bit of a dip and you can see that the water quality is deteriorating, there is no two ways about that. “You just get a feeling for the clarity of the water.”
He believes there are local reasons for the quality of the water as well. “I think a lot of it is to do with agricultural runoff,” John added. “I am quite a keen fisherman as well. You can even see this in the fishing community, there is a lot of uproar about spillage into water, and local rivers being polluted. “You can’t slag off the farmers because they are trying to make a living. “They are growing food which we need. “So, it is a very complicated situation. “I just think people need to be more aware of what they are doing to the environment overall. “People have different views on global warming. “There is global warming, and while we are not totally responsible for it, we are partly responsible for it.” But what can be done to address the issue? “I am very concerned. “I did a degree in zoology 40-something years ago at Queen’s. “I did a lot of ecology in that as well. I haven’t used it since, but I am very aware environmentally. “It is up to the government to do something about this. “Locally people can kick up a fuss and get groups together but functionally people have to take this up to a higher level. “No matter what we say, we cannot influence other people, who are responsible for run-offs into rivers and into the sea.” He said that he thinks more people are talking about the issue. “I think there is a growing awareness. “There is not a high level of awareness in the general public, but it is definitely growing. “Certainly, within the interest groups, like the swimmers and the anglers, there is a high level of awareness.” He thinks that over time it is likely that open water swimming is under threat.
Another analysis comes from Charlie and Glenda Graham, who are also members of the Annalong High Tide swimmers. They are long time users of the waters around South Down and go swimming two or three times a week. They explained that the quality here is much better than in many other places. “We have seen far worse conditions in England,” they said. “In certain parts of England it is quite polluted.” However, they did point out that the water quality was not perfect and not all beaches were the same. “I feel that Annalong is less contaminated. “We have found that the water in Annalong is cleaner. “In Newcastle people have been complaining about the poor water because of the sewage treatment plant. “We have seen changes to water in the last two years. We have found things different in the sea. “We did have one of the swimmers who said she became very ill after swimming in Newcastle.” However, they added that the authorities deserve credit for making sure the public is informed about the quality of the water. “There are people who test the water. They take samples. The results are posted on the board. “So, we can see the water quality. “I do think we are fortunate to have people who test the water, who are there for us. “It is not as if there are people who don’t care. “If someone said it was dangerous, then we wouldn’t go in. “If we felt that it was dangerous then we wouldn’t swim.” In order to ascertain how big the problem is regionally, the Mourne Observer contacted the wildswim.ie website. Maureen McCoy runs the website with her partner. She is familiar with the Newcastle area as she did her swim teaching training at Newcastle’s historic Rock Pool. She addressed the question about the seriousness of water safety. “Yes, it is a pretty serious issue for all of us,”
Maureen said. “It is a clear sign that we are creating an awful lot of problems for our world around us, and it is hitting home to the person on the street, and the swimmer on the beach. “We (herself and her partner) go round the whole of Ireland and we see the changes in places. “Particularly in the last three years we have seen more people getting out there and using the beaches for swimming and paddleboarding and kayaking, so it is really sad to see this problem with water pollution. “We have followed it through the groups who work in the south of Ireland and monitor the quality of rivers. “They have a big study going on. “It is really interesting that the east side of the island is a lot worse than the west. “That is probably due to population.” She believes it’s an issue more people should be thinking about.
“It is a real concern for all of us who use the outdoors. We use it (water) recreationally but on a wider scale we have got to think about our fishermen and groups like that. “That is what kind of concerns me. “I think people should be very concerned about water pollution. “The amount of effluent and sewage and wastewater that we are pumping in close into shore is affecting all of us. “When you think Newcastle is a tourism town, that is what it wants: tourism,” Maureen said. “Part of that appeal is that it is a beachside town. “So it is important that we act and that everybody acts. That is the council, the public, the government, NI Water, DAERA. Everybody has to pull together and find a solution to this.” Maureen has some simple pieces of advice for people who want to make small changes. “I tell everyone to wash all their kit. I know we see signs at inland waterways to wash down your boats and your craft, so you are not taking any contaminates away to the next piece of water you are going to. “So, I say to swimmers to wash out your swim shoes and things so that you are not contaminating the next place you are going to swim. Anything like that will help. “I also think we have to lobby. “I think that would be our biggest force as the public. We can lobby our political representatives and try to get something to happen, get meetings going and get them to talk about how they can start to fix this problem and change our ways. “Isn’t that what is a democracy is about? That everyone has a voice. “We have to use that voice. Even just a letter to your local MP. Flash it up in front of them.”
Catherine Hanratty is the head coach of the only affiliated open water swim club in Ulster, namely Swim Ulster. While they are based in Lurgan they do have some members from South Down. Their group uses Lough Neagh and loughs in Armagh for swimming and they have seen how blue green algae has limited the use of their swimming spots in the past year. But she argues that these issues will affect everywhere. “From our perspective we have noticed a dip in water quality for a few years in the lough and we know that that is then feeding out to the sea. We are concerned that this is going to be an annual thing. “The ecosystem is obviously at tipping point. It is not isolated. We are such a small wee country.” Catherine wants to see more action being taken to address the issue. “We need political action and as long as Stormont is not up and running, how much can the bodies do in terms of accessing funding? And that is what it is going to come down to. “I am not from the farming community but we need to realise that this is everybody’s problem, we can’t point the finger at one community. “I don’t think that it is fair to just blame the farmers or to just look at NI Water. “There is a bigger picture here and we are all going to need to work together.” In a statement to the Mourne Observer last year the district council explained that between the end of May and mid-September, DAERA “undertakes weekly water quality tests at the district’s designated bathing waters”. The statement added that the tests monitor bacteria levels (E.coli and Intestinal Enterococci) and the results are posted locally. It went on to explain that the results of samples taken in Newcastle on Friday the 16th of June last year showed “elevated bacteria levels” and that, in line with the water safety procedure, the council “immediately erected posters with temporary advice against bathing”. The council also explained that on Sunday the 18th of June the results from a second set of samples showed these “elevated bacteria levels” were no longer present and the water was safe for bathing again. Another ‘poor bathing quality notice’ was issued for Newcastle in early July. A statement from DAERA at the time explained this was due to the fact that samples collected ‘failed to meet the required E. coli standard’. Once again further samples were collected and this second set of results showed that the bathing water now met “the required standards”.
The DAERA statement last July referred to the link between poor bathing water quality and climate change. “The bathing water quality at Newcastle is known to be highly variable,” the statement went on. “Water quality is most often impacted by heavy rainfall. “We believe this was the likely case for the recent failure; increased microbial levels were also reported for a number of other bathing waters on the South Down coast. “Extreme weather events, such as heavy rainfall following extended dry spells, can affect the water quality of our surface waters; these have become increasingly common with climate change. “It is likely that future bathing water closures may occur following heavy rainfall events.” The statement added that DAERA is working closely with researchers in the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) to better understand the factors impacting bathing water quality. AFBI with DAERA is also continuing the development of predictive bathing water quality models, under the Swim NI.