Bathing water quality

The Environment Agency is the statutory body responsible for monitoring bathing waters and local authorities must display information.

For every designated bathing water in England, the Environment Agency monitors Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci in the water, throughout the bathing season (15 May to 30 September).

Values can vary depending on the weather, pollution from agricultural and urban sources, storm water overflows and other factors.

The readings taken over the last four bathing seasons then determine the annual classification for that water.

Bathing water profiles

During the summer bathing season Environment Agency Officers take weekly samples within Westmorland and Furness. Select the links below to see results from water quality assessments on the Environment Agency website. 

Walney Island coastline, Barrow-in-Furness:

• Walney Island Bigger Bank
• Walney Island Sandy Gap
• Walney Island West Shore

Lake Windermere: 

• Windermere Fell Foot
• Windermere Lakeside YMCA
• Windermere Rayrigg Meadow
• Windermere Millerground Landing

Coniston Water:

• Coniston Boating Centre
• Coniston Brown Howe
• Coniston Monk Coniston 

Water quality ratings

All our bathing water classifications are rated excellent for water quality, except for Biggar Bank which is rated good and Coniston Boating Centre, which is rated poor. We recommend that you do not swim from the Boating Centre, but the other two sites in Coniston which have excellent water quality. 

Further information

For more details on our local designated bathing waters or those within the UK please visit:

• Bathing waters on GOV.UK
• Find a bathing water on the Environment Agency website
• Bathing water quality open data on the Environment Agency website