§ 78. Mr. Teddy TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the pollution levels in the sea water at Southend-on-Sea.
§ Mr. HowardAt Southend-on-Sea, the Anglian water authority recently brought into use an extension to an existing outfall at a cost of £5 million. While this has brought about significant improvements in water quality, 493W it is clear that further measures are needed. In response to a request from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, the Anglian water authority is developing proposals for satisfactory long-term arrangements for sewage disposal at Southend.
However, as a temporary measure, the water authority is disinfecting sewage with peracetic acid prior to discharge through the outfall. This has enabled the identified bathing waters at Thorpe bay and Westcliff bay consistently to meet the bathing water directive's mandatory coliform standards so far during the 1989 bathing season.
East beach, Shoeburyness, which was recently identified as a bathing water under the EC bathing water directive, already meets those mandatory standards.