Sea water monitoring

Quality of sea water

The sampling and analysis of sea water is carried out by the Department of the Environment. The quality of sea water around Jersey’s coast is important for a number of reasons:

the health of the public swimming in those bays and for those involved in water sports
detection of pollution within the environment
providing information to the aquaculture industry, for example oyster or mussel farming

Jersey tourism prides itself on having some of the cleanest beaches in Europe.

Most popular beaches

Sea water at 15 of the most popular beaches around Jersey is monitored up to 20 times between mid May to the end of September each year. Bathing waters are classified annually based on samples collected from the previous 4 years. The classifications are 'Excellent, 'Good', 'Sufficient' and 'Poor'. Water samples are tested for the bacteria Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci, which indicate whether there is faecal matter in the water. The annual classifications are shown in the sea water profiles.

Results from Jersey are submitted to the Marine Conservation Society for inclusion in the UK Good Beach Guide.

2019 monitoring calendar and results

Article 3(1) of the revised Bathing Water Directive requires sea waters to be identified on an annual basis. The length of the sea water season is to be defined each year.

The 2019 season runs from Monday 13 May until Tuesday 24 September.

It is also a requirement to establish a monitoring calendar to identify days when water samples will be collected.

In addition to those beaches identified within the Bathing Water Directive we have added Bonne Nuit Bay to the 2019 sampling regime.

Jersey Coastguard and the RNLI are informed as to the weekly results for inclusion on social media.

Bathing water results week 1

2018 sea water quality results

During the 2018 summer season, 9 of Jersey's bathing water sites of 'Excellent' quality, 2 were 'Good' quality and one was 'Sufficient' quality.

'Excellent' quality classification

Archirondel
Beauport
Portelet
Le Braye
Plemont
Greve de Lecq
Harve des Pas
Green Island
Watersplash

'Good' quality classification

Victoria Pool
Grouville
St Brelade

'Sufficient' quality classification

Le Haule
Bouley Bay

'Poor' quality classification

No bathing water sites were rated as 'poor' quality

Sea water profiles

A profile has been produced for each of Jersey's monitored sea waters. As well as providing useful information they are a requirement of the revised Bathing Water Directive. Each profile includes:

a photograph, description, map of the sea water and surrounding area
an identification of potential sources of pollution and measures to reduce pollution
the telephone number to report water pollution and contact details for further information