A LOCH Lomond bay has been identified as one of the most polluted bathing waters in Scotland this summer.
A sample taken at Luss Bay in early August was found to be six times higher than sewage safety limits.
It was taken after torrential rain fell in the area – and around many parts of Scotland – on August 4, causing sewers to overflow and animal faeces to be washed into water courses running into the bay, putting the health and safety of swimmers and tourists at risk.
However, samples taken later in the month were found to be within permitted levels.
Bathing water quality at Luss Bay, and 27 other popular bathing beaches around Scotland, is sampled regularly in summer for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to check for breaches of concentrations of two faecal bacteria which can cause people to suffer from stomach, ear and throat infections.
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A SEPA spokesperson said: “One of the biggest impacts on the water quality at bathing waters is due to the weather, especially heavy rain such as Scotland experienced recently.
“SEPA’s electronic signs and website provide real-time water quality predictions to the public and were used to provide advice against bathing for this reason.
“The recent high result reported at Luss Bay was as a result of the exceptionally high rainfall of 72mm in that area concentrated over a few hours in the preceding period.
“Two more recent samples show that levels of pollution have reduced significantly.”
SEPA advises members of the public against going into the water at designated bathing beaches for one to two days after heavy rain because of the risk of pollution.
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Green MSP Ross Greer, who represents the west of Scotland region, believes more needs to be done to warn residents of the dangers of the contaminated waters.
He said: “These numbers are frankly shocking. As lockdown has eased thousands of people have come to Loch Lomond on a regular basis for a paddle or a swim, completely unaware of the danger from this contamination.
“In the short term SEPA and the council need to make sure that the public health risk of bathing in the loch is clearly signposted in these periods of heightened contamination.
“Longer term, though, more investigatory work needs to be done into the specific sources of contamination and protective measures taken.
“The most immediate consequence of the climate crisis in the west of Scotland is increased rainfall, so we should be clear that local public health issues like this can only be tackled if we take action against that much wider crisis as well.”
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