The way Islanders can view storm overflow activity around the Isle of Wight coast and beyond is changing, thanks to a major upgrade.
From next Wednesday (13th November), Southern Water’s existing Beachbuoy online tool will be replaced by the new Rivers and Seas Watch platform. It will feature every single combined sewer outfall – also known as storm overflows – along 700 miles of coastline and the scores of rivers and streams which crisscross Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
It’s a far cry from the service when it was launched in July 2018. It was the first alerting service by a water company but was all compiled by hand and covered just Langstone and Chichester Harbours and Ventnor, Hillhead, Joss Bay and Bexhill bathing waters.
The new tool uses advanced modelling of tides, currents and winds to provide more information of the possible impact of storm releases to local water quality.
Tom Gallagher, Open Water Improvement Lead, says:
“There are major improvements to the look and feel of the site. Each outfall is colour coded – as before, green indicates no releases in the last 72 hours, amber shows there has been a release up to 72 hours ago, and a red icon highlights a release within the last 24 hours that our modelling shows could impact water quality.”
Due to data protection rules, existing users of Beachbuoy must re-sign up for alerts at https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/e9a1db8d193d4cd582d550285a3aeb44/page/Map/.
