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Box 8: Managing storm overflow pollution in Blackpool (The United Kingdom)

There are three bathing waters situated on Fylde coastline around Blackpool, Lancashire, flanked by the urban fringe along the coastline, with agricultural land dominating further inland. Most surface water in the catchment is diverted away from the bathing waters. In the 1990s these bathing waters were of ‘poor’ quality mainly due to insufficient sewage infrastructure.

The £500 million coastal clean-up project »Sea Change« was launched in 1994 by the UK Environment Agency in conjunction with the water service company to improve bathing water quality in North West England, particularly along the Fylde Coast. Under this programme, the company made improvements in the Blackpool area by constructing a tunnel to provide storage for storm discharges and transferring flows from four coastal pumping stations serving the Blackpool area to a new sewage treatment works at Fleetwood. In addition, large storage tanks were also built to reduce the storm overflows. Due to these measures, water quality at Blackpool improved gradually, reaching ‘good’ and even ‘excellent’ quality.

As part of the improvement programme from 2015 to 2020, the storm overflows from Chorley, Blackburn and Preston sewage treatment works will be improved to protect bathing water quality. Further work to reduce the number of storm discharges will improve bathing water quality on the Fylde coast in Lancashire.