THE quality of Scotland’s bathing waters has substantially improved since new regulations were brought in almost a decade ago, the SNP have said.
Ahead of the famous Loony Dook tradition on New Year’s Day, where bathers take a plunge in freezing waters, the party highlighted figures from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa).
In November the agency said that 85% of Scotland’s bathing waters will be of an “excellent” or “good” standard in 2025.
Sepa also said 97% of bathing waters will be of at least “sufficient” standard.
This compares to 65% when the Bathing Water (Scotland) Regulations were fully implemented in 2015.
SNP MSP Christine Grahame said: “As party goers bring in the new year with the world famous Loony Dook, we can look back on a decade of success in improving Scotland’s bathing waters – a 22% increase in the number of good or excellent waters in the last 10 years.
“Outdoor swimming is for life, not just for Christmas – and these latest figures show the difference the SNP is making for our outdoor swimmers all year round.
“When it comes to water, we know that Scotland is miles ahead. To have it confirmed that 97% of Scotland’s bathing waters will be of at least sufficient standard in 2025 proves the benefit of the regulations implemented by the SNP in 2015.
“I welcome these statistics from Sepa and look forward to the continuing improvement of Scotland’s water quality in the years ahead.”
