17 June 2023
Samples of sea water from various sites in St Aubin’s Bay, taken on Friday 16 June, have confirmed the
quality to again be “excellent” on the EU Bathing Water Directive scale. It follows tests on Tuesday
and Thursday which also categorised the sea water there as “excellent”.
In mid-week, Islanders were advised not to swim in the bay, as a precaution, due to concerns about
the standard of the effluent from the Sewage Treatment Works (STW).
An undiluted sample at First Tower, taken at the end of the STW outfall pipe on Thursday, was
rated as poor quality. However, a bathing water sample in the area from Friday was “excellent”.
The STW team have written to the Regulation team to confirm that testing at the facility on Friday
has shown that operations at the sewage works are returning to normal. However, due to this
week’s issue, the Regulation team will be formally investigating what happened, under the Water
Pollution (Jersey) Law 2000.
The advice not to swim, first issued by the Infrastructure and Environment department on
Wednesday evening, is no longer in place. The signs will be removed as soon as possible.
The Minister for the Environment, Deputy Jonathan Renouf, said: “We now have a series of results
stretching back to Tuesday, demonstrating that the quality of water in St Aubin’s Bay is excellent. In
addition to that, the Sewage Treatment Works operators have informed the Regulation team that
operations are returning to normal. We also now have the bathing water sample in the First Tower
area amongst the results classified as excellent. I’m pleased, particularly with the warm weather
we’ve been having, that sea swimming can resume. Regulatory colleagues can now focus on the
work of establishing what happened.”
The test results have, this morning, been communicated to the organisers of the Jersey Triathlon.
Sea water monitoring results are publicly and routinely available on gov.je
The Minister for Infrastructure, Deputy Tom Binet, said: “I’m thankful to the team at the Sewage
Treatment Works, who have worked incredibly hard over the past few days, adjusting processes at
Bellozanne and making subtle alterations, to improve the effluent quality. It’s complex work, with
multiple environmental and biological factors at play. We’ll work closely with the regulator to clarify
what exactly has happened this week.”
Anyone who has been swimming in the area and starts to feel unwell or has health concerns should
speak to their doctor (GP).
gov.je