Bathing water quality

Northern Ireland’s bathing season begins on 1 June and ends on 15 September each year. The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) is responsible for monitoring and making sure that coastal waters are of high enough quality to bathe in.

Water quality monitoring

Bathing water at 26 sites is monitored weekly from May to September and classified into one of four categories ‘excellent’, ‘good’, ‘satisfactory’ or ‘temporary advice issued against bathing’.

May to September 2019 water quality results

Current results for bathing waters

2018 Bathing Water Compliance

Bathing water	Compliance level
Magilligan (Benone)	Excellent
Magilligan (Downhill)	Excellent
Castlerock	Good
Portstewart	Excellent
Portrush (Mill) West	Excellent
Portrush (Whiterocks)	Excellent
Portballintrae	Excellent
Ballycastle	Excellent
Helen's Bay	Excellent
Groomsport	Excellent
Millisle	Excellent
Kilclief	Excellent
Ballyhornan	Excellent
Tyrella	Excellent
Murlough County Down	Excellent
Cranfield (Cranfield Bay)	Excellent
Portrush (Curran) East	Good
Carnlough	Good
Ballygally	Good
Brown's Bay	Good
Crawfordsburn	Good
Cloughey	Good
Waterfoot	Sufficient
Ballyholme	Sufficient
Ballywalter	Sufficient
Newcastle	Sufficient

Blue Flag beaches

Beaches with an 'excellent' water quality compliance result may be eligible for the Blue Flag award, which also looks at beach management and facilities such as litter collection, toilets, car parking, disability access and life-saving equipment. The award applies during the bathing season.

In Northern Ireland the scheme is run by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, along with the Green Coast and Seaside Award schemes.

In 2019, eight Blue Flag beaches and four Blue Flag Marinas in Northern Ireland, 12 Seaside Award beaches and one Green Coast beach were recognised.

Environmental quality in your area

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