11/09/2025
We are proud to be hosting a new citizen science testing facility🌊
This initiative will enable trained volunteers to regularly monitor seawater quality, supporting the wider effort to keep our coastline clean and safe.
By working together with our partners and local community, we can help protect our coastal waters for everyone to enjoy.
See more information in the post below.
Worthing is set to receive its own dedicated water testing facility to enable local campaigners to help monitor the quality of the town’s seawater. 🌊
This summer Mark Smith, Susie Johnson and Caroline Keylock have been helping test the seawater at Worthing Beach House, one of our three designated bathing sites, using equipment provided by Southern Water.
The trio are members of Muscle Beach Swimming Club, which regularly swims off the section of beach opposite Splashpoint Leisure Centre. The samples they collect are currently taken to King Alfred Leisure Centre in Hove, which houses a Southern Water-funded testing lab capable of measuring levels of e.coli over a 15-hour time period.
Southern Water is now supporting a citizen science testing facility in Worthing, which will be hosted by South Downs Leisure at Splashpoint Leisure Centre. Details are currently being finalised, but all parties are looking forward to working together to enable testing by volunteers at each of Worthing’s designated bathing sites.
Councillor Vicki Wells, Worthing’s cabinet member for environmental services, recently joined members of the swimming club to test the seawater, and is keen to ensure citizen scientist contributions help build an accurate picture of the town’s water quality.
Keeping our coastal water clean is a collective effort, and citizen science participation will play a crucial role in understanding the standard of the water quality off our foreshore so that sources of pollution can be identified and fixed with the help of our partners.
As with all designated bathing water sites, the Environment Agency takes weekly samples of the seawater at Worthing Beach House for bacteria from May to September. The additional citizen monitoring will complement this ongoing work which determines annual classifications for each location.
We’d like to thank Muscle Beach Swimming Club and South Downs Leisure for their support in helping us and our partners improve the seawater along our coastline.
To find out more about our bathing sites and who does what, visit our website: https://www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/environmental-health/pollution/water-quality/bathing-water-seawater/