Excellent results for Welsh bathing water quality, with 85 locations given top rating

1 minute read

In total 85 bodies of water across Wales have been given a top rating of ‘excellent’ from Natural Resources Wales for their water quality.

The watchdog conducts annual testing during the summer months and compares findings against EU standards. Categorised as either ‘Excellent’, ‘Good’, ‘Sufficient’, or ‘Poor’, 85 of the 106 water bodies assessed across Wales achieved the top grade.

Penarth and Col-Huw beach, Llantwit Major in the Vale of Glamorgan were added to the rankings after a local wild swimming enthusiast used new rules to get the water tested.

Penarth has recently become a firm favourite among wild swimmers with the Dawnstalkers, a community of cold water swimmers, all kick starting their day with a sea swim just before sunrise.

Speaking of Penarth's result in the ratings Dawnstalkers co-founder Grant Zehtmayer said: “I hope this opens up opportunities for our lovely seafront and Penarth in general, while giving confidence that our muddy sea is perfectly good to swim in."

We recently spoke to Grant Zehetmayr, about discovering wild swimming, and the peace and calm it brought, him during lockdown. You can read the full article here

Here are the beaches and lakes in South Wales that were rated excellent: