Water quality at beaches improving

There are encouraging signs that bathing water quaility in the Isle of Man is continuing to improve, thanks to the IRIS sewage treatment scheme.

Ninety-nine per cent of nearly 400 samples, taken from 19 beaches during the summer, showed areas served by IRIS achieving a 'good' standard, or above.

On the other side of the coin, beaches where raw sewage is still pumped into the sea fared less well.

Director of operations for the Isle of Man Water and Sewerage Authority Peter Winstanley says the aim now is to achieve high standards Island-wide.

He was asked why the Island did so badly in the annual survey carried out by the United Kingdom's Marine Conservation Society, for its Good Beach Guide: