Agriculture, Countryside and Land Management Services, which manages coastal areas on behalf of the States, said anyone who comes into contact with the water should immediately wash their hands.
The warning follows reports that the bay has been returning ‘erratic’ and in some cases ‘poor’ water quality results in recent weeks.
Samples of water taken from the outfall have now been tested and found to have ‘very poor’ water quality, with E.coli present.
“This is obviously of significant concern and we believe that this is the likely source of the recent bathing water quality failures,” said a spokesman for ACLMS.
Agriculture, Countryside and Land Management Services are advising people visiting Cobo Bay that there have been erratic water quality results during the last few weeks. Please note on re-test the samples have been Good or Excellent.
More at: https://t.co/gxC5JjVoNs pic.twitter.com/Pyj7iE8JjW— States of Guernsey (@Govgg) September 9, 2020
“There is no link from the foul drainage system to that outfall on the beach so this is very likely something occurring further up-stream.”
People are generally advised against allowing children to play in water from any beach outfall, given it may carry run-off from fields with grazing livestock or debris from roads. However, that warning is even stronger with this particularly outfall given some of the bacteria it has been found to contain.
Staff from Environment Health and Regulation Pollution are working with Guernsey Water, which is responsible for the drain to the beach, to try to find the source of the pollution.
Pictured top: The States has reported several ‘erratic’ water quality tests at Cobo Bay, which is now believed to have been caused by the outfall.