Blackpool South

United Kingdom Coastal 3 - Sufficient

Blackpool is a resort town on Lancashire's north west coast. Blackpool South bathing water is sandy and very flat with some small grooves caused by the waves. There is a promenade running alongside the beach. Blackpool South Pier lies to the north of the bathing water. The Blackpool Pleasure Beach attraction is located behind the beach.

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Water

Coastal bathing water

Location

Blackpool, Lancashire

Season

Designated bathing water since 1988. Official monitoring season runs from May to September.

Water Quality

Sufficient (2025). Assessed under rBWD

Risks

The Abercorn Place and Wetherby & Albany Avenue overflows located to the south of Blackpool South are no longer in use. The Lennox Gate/Harrowside Pumping Station only discharges under exceptional conditions.
There are several small surface water outfalls which discharge close to the beach. There is no impact on bathing water quality from these outfalls.
There are numerous storm, emergency and surface water outfalls that discharge to the River Ribble and its estuary. Sewer overflows operating during, and following, periods of heavy rain, can result in reduced bathing water quality at Blackpool South. A significant improvement programme to overflows around the Preston area was completed by United Utilities in 2013 to protect bathing water quality. The programme included the construction of a large storage tunnel (40,790 m3) to the south of the River Ribble to store storm flows as well as a number of other individual schemes to improve storm and emergency overflows.
The Manchester Square Pumping Station and Bloomfield Road storage tanks, both located in Blackpool, were upgraded in 2010 alongside improvements to Fleetwood Sewage Treatment Works. Further work providing additional storm sewage storage at Fleetwood Sewage Treatment Works and the Bloomfield Road storage tanks was completed in 2015 further improving Blackpool South's bathing water quality.
As part of the improvement programme of work for United Utilities (from 2015 to 2020) the storm overflows from Chorley, Blackburn and Preston Sewage Treatment Works will be improved to protect bathing water quality. Work has already been carried out to reduce the number of storm discharges from the Manchester Square, Anchorsholme and Chatsworth Avenue Pumping Stations which will help to improve bathing water quality on the Fylde coast in Lancashire. The programme also requires that all storm overflows close to bathing waters have equipment installed to monitor spills to the environment. This will help to identify where bathing water improvements may be needed in the future.
This bathing water is included in the Surfers Against Sewage “Safer Seas Service”. This service can alert you to Combined Storm Sewer Overflow discharges via a phone App and in addition, it includes the Environment Agency Pollution Risk Forecast warnings where they are available. Further details of the service can be found at - http://www.sas.org.uk/safer-seas-service/ and via United Utilities website at http://www.unitedutilities.com/Bathing-Waters-Map.aspx.