Site and Travel Updates
19 oCTOBER 2022
It’s not easy being green…
If you have visited recently then you will have noticed that our water isn’t its usual turquoise colour.
The heat wave with its unusually high temperatures and extremely high UV levels in August has caused an algae bloom – which although not harmful at all, does make the lake look decidedly green! This is a problem being experienced by lakes, lidos and bodies of waters across the UK at the moment.
The experts we are working with have identified the rare algae and confirmed that it is not harmful at all and being in the water will not impact our surfers’ health in any way. We test our water every day to monitor chlorine and PH levels, and it is also regularly tested for bacteria levels by an external laboratory. All tests show that the water is completely safe.
We have a very good filtration system, but the level and rare variety of bloom – and the rate at which it developed – means it cannot remove the green algae quickly enough. We are working with top water quality experts to source solutions to speed up the process, but at the moment we cannot give a definitive timescale as to when our water will be back to our usual standards.
Rest assured the water is safe and we are working on getting back to blue as soon as we can.
Please see below for more information on our most frequently asked questions
- Why is the lake water green?
The heat wave with its unusually high temperatures and extremely high UV levels in August has cause a rare algae bloom – which all though not harmful at all, does make the lake look decidedly green! This is a problem being experienced by lakes, lidos and bodies of waters across the UK at the moment.
- Is it harmful to human health / will I get ill surfing in the lake / is it toxic?
No – water experts have identified the type of algae bloom and confirmed that it is not harmful at all and being in the water will not impact our visitors’ health in any way.
- How often is the water tested?
We test our water every day to monitor Chlorine and PH levels, and it is also regularly tested for bacteria by an external laboratory. All tests show that the water is completely safe.
- How long will it take to correct?
We have a very good filtration system, but the level and variety of bloom – and the speed at which it developed – means it cannot remove the green algae as quickly as we would like. We are working with water quality experts to do everything we can to source solutions to speed up the process, but at the moment we cannot give a timescale as to when our water will be back to our usual blue standards.
- Is it green because you’ve not used enough chlorine / acted quick enough to stop the bloom?
No. We constantly test the water, use the correct levels of chlorine and have a very good filtration system, but the type of bloom – and the speed at which it increased due to the incredibly high temperatures in August – made it impossible to avoid the green algae developing. We are working with top water quality experts to do everything we can to source solutions to speed up the process, but at the moment we cannot give a timescale as to when our water will be back to our usual blue standards.