JUST four of south Ceredigion and north Pembrokeshire beaches did not make the ‘excellent’ standards for bathing water quality in 2023.

Out of 15 designated bathing water quality areas, only four: Aberporth, New Quay North, New Quay Harbour and Traeth Gwyn New Quay failed to meet the ‘excellent’ criteria, however, they were still deemed to be ‘good’ quality.

98 per cent of Welsh bathing waters met the standards for bathing water quality, with 80 out of 109 bathing waters being given the highest classification of ‘excellent.’

Take a look at the ratings for south Ceredigion and north Pembrokeshire beaches:

  • Whitesands: Excellent.
  • Abereiddy: Excellent.
  • Abermawr: Excellent.
  • Newport North: Excellent.
  • Poppit West: Excellent.
  • Mwnt: Excellent.
  • Aberporth: Good.
  • Tresaith: Excellent.
  • Penbryn: Excellent.
  • Llangrannog: Excellent.
  • Cilborth: Excellent.
  • New Quay North: Good.
  • New Quay Harbour: Good.
  • Traeth Gwyn New Quay: Good
  • Llanrhystud: Excellent.

Julie James, Welsh Government minister for climate change, said: “Wales is recognised internationally as having some of the best beaches and water quality in Europe, and high bathing water quality is vital to continue supporting valuable outdoor water recreation opportunities.

“We will continue to work with local communities and water companies to identify what action is needed to meet and exceed the required standards.”

Clare Pillman, Natural Resources Wales’ chief executive, said: “We are entirely committed to protecting and improving the quality of our coastal water and rivers for people and nature, and each year, a tremendous amount of unseen work takes place to tackle sources of pollution across the country.

“While we celebrate our spectacular coastline and world-class beaches, we know that now is a pivotal time for change, not complacency.

“There is still much work to be done to safeguard our bathing waters. The only way to get our water quality to the stat we want is to recognise that everyone has a role to play. We must all raise our game now and strive to achieve the waters we want for ourselves and for future generations.”

The Welsh Government says that we must be prepared to deal with impacts of longer, heavier bouts of rain on a regular basis, as bathing water quality reporting is highly perceptible to climate changes such as periods of heavy rain and Wales already receives more rainfall on average than the rest of the UK.

In July this year, Wales received 191 per cent of its long-term average rainfall, followed by 125 per cent during August and September. This was compared to 2022, when over the same period, Wales experienced its driest seven-month period for 150 years.