THE Isle of Man Water and Sewerage Authority has said it is disappointed with information contained in this year's Good Beach Guide.
The Marine Conservation Society (MCS), which issues the guide, failed six beaches in the Isle of Man.
However the Isle of Man Water and Sewerage Authority has said that the society has published factually incorrect comments about the IRIS Sewage Treatment Scheme.
The MCS claims that the IRIS Sewage Treatment Plant at Meary Veg, which came online in 2004 and which now treats sewage from 67 percent of the Island's population, is "not delivering the bathing water quality improvements" that the MCS expected of a facility costing £170 million.
Authority Chairman Tim Crookall MHK said: "For a start expenditure on IRIS to date is £88m and not £170m. We also had to correct the MCS on this point last year after its 2010 guide quoted the same incorrect figure.
"In addition we wrote to the society in November of last year detailing what has been achieved to date with Douglas, Onchan, Derbyhaven, Castletown, Port Erin and Port St Mary no longer discharging raw sewage to sea, but flows being pumped to a modern sewage treatment works at Meary Veg with high quality treated effluent being discharged into the Irish Sea off Santon Head.
"The MCS was advised that the government's Environmental Protection Unit monitors the effectiveness of the sewage treatment process which complies with the required standards.
"In relation to the statement that the IRIS system is not delivering the bathing water quality improvements that were expected by the MCS this is again factually incorrect.
"All the areas in the south of the Island that are connected to IRIS have reached the recommended bathing water quality standard apart from Bay Ny Carrickey where a malfunctioning private septic tank, close to the sampling point, is believed to have skewed the results. This private facility has now been replaced.
"In addition we also provided the MCS with a copy of our Regional Sewage Treatment and Sludge Disposal Strategy Report detailing the proposals for connecting the remainder of the Island's towns and villages to modern regional sewage treatment facilities.
"The first phase of this strategy has now received Tynwald's approval of funding for a five year programme of works, to run from 2011 to 2016, and will see new sewage treatment plants constructed at Ramsey (to also treat flows from Andreas), Jurby and Kirk Michael.
"A proposed second phase, planned for 2016-2021, will provide sewage treatment facilities for those areas not covered by phase one which includes Peel, Laxey, Baldrine and the Central Valley.
"Given that we explained all this after the publication of last year's Good Beach Guide it's disappointing – and somewhat frustrating – to see the MCS continuing to use incorrect information and making misguided comment.
"Prior to Meary Veg coming online in 2004, the failure rate of our beaches, when looking at the mandatory cleanliness levels set out by the EU's Bathing Water Directive, was 54 percent. Today that rate is 27 percent.
"Those percentages relate to the Island as a whole. However beaches in the south and east have performed better in the last five years than the Island average and, taking these statistics into account, we are happy that IRIS is delivering."
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