Worthing to Get New Community Seawater Testing Facility

Worthing is set to receive its own dedicated water testing facility, enabling local volunteers to monitor the quality of the town’s seawater.

The facility will be hosted by South Downs Leisure at Splashpoint Leisure Centre and will support testing at each of Worthing’s three designated bathing sites.

Local swimmers Mark Smith, Susie Johnson and Caroline Keylock, members of the Muscle Beach Swimming Club, have been collecting water samples this summer using equipment provided by Southern Water. Until now, these samples have been taken to the King Alfred Leisure Centre in Hove for analysis, but the new site will allow results to be obtained more locally.

Councillor Vicki Wells, Worthing’s cabinet member for environmental services, welcomed the initiative, saying it will help pinpoint pollution hotspots and improve the marine environment. The additional citizen monitoring will complement weekly Environment Agency testing, which determines annual bathing water classifications.