RESORT'S PIERS GET SENSORS TO MONITOR WATER QUALITY

Sensors to monitor bathing water quality have been placed off Bournemouth and Boscombe piers.

Using AI they will give swimmers real-time information about bacteria levels and temperatures via an app.

Put in by Wessex Water the data from the sensors is used alongside laboratory tests from collected water samples.

The water firm said a date for the sensors to start relaying information at the resort was yet to be set.

They have been put in at the resort following a trial at Warleigh Weir, a wild swimming spot near Bath.

A Wessex Water spokesperson said: "While Bournemouth's bathing waters are excellent, they can be affected by numerous sources and we want to give beachgoers the best possible information.

"The sensors at Bournemouth and Boscombe Piers use AI to correlate with public health measures that normally take 36 hours to test in a laboratory, so this represents a major breakthrough and runs alongside our £3m investment every month on storm overflow improvements across our region."

Nineteen beaches in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area will be sampled weekly by the Environment Agency (EA) between 1 May and 30 September.

Wessex Water is responsible for water quality in the BCP area. The Environment Agency acts as regulator.

The water firm said it hoped to roll the sensors out at other locations along the Dorset coast, including nearby Hengistbury Head.

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RESORT'S PIERS GET SENSORS TO MONITOR WATER QUALITY

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