WATER sensors that will allow surfers, swimmers and paddlers alike to see the quality of the water off Bournemouth beach are set to go live in June.

Wessex Water has installed sensors at the ends of both Bournemouth and Boscombe piers.

The sensors, using AI, will provide real-time data on the quality of the water, as well as water temperature, level, flow and rainfall, accessed via an app developed by UnifAI Technology.

Bournemouth East MP, Tobias Ellwood, said he had been pressuring the CEO of Wessex Water, Colin Skellett, for a better way to get real time information on water quality along the beach.

Mr Ellwood said he has regular meetings with the water company boss, and at his most recent meeting on Thursday, asked him to consider installing a third sensor at Hengistbury Head.

He said he was ‘really pleased’ the sensors would go live this summer and the company had agreed to consider a third sensor, after the issue was raised at a recent Hengistbury Residents’ Association meeting.

“There'll be an app that the Echo readers and everybody else will be able to monitor at any instant the quality of the water, ensure it so that you can guarantee that it is safe,” Mr Ellwood said.

“If there has been a deluge of rain and our systems perhaps might be threatened, you can instantly see whether the overflow has been required to use and the quality of water.

“They're remote sensors, so they operate and there's groyne upgrades being made at that location [Hengistbury Head].

“So, I'm really pleased that Wessex Water agreed in principle to look at the proposal of putting a third sensor very close to them, which would give the area around Southbourne their own data on the quality of water there.”

The sensors have been live and collecting data from the ends of the piers during a testing phase before they go live to the public.

Bournemouth’s beaches are rated as ‘excellent’ by the Environment Agency.

“We want surfers to come down and feel safe,” Mr Ellwood said. “We want everybody, every family, every toddler, all the mums and dads to feel that their kids can paddle in safe and clean waters.

“This is a great, convenient and up to date way of doing so.”

A Wessex Water spokesperson said: “While Bournemouth’s bathing waters are excellent, they can be affected by numerous sources and we want to give beachgoers the best possible information.

“The sensors at Bournemouth and Boscombe piers use AI to correlate with public health measures that normally take 36 hours to test in a laboratory, so this represents a major breakthrough and runs alongside our £3 million investment every month on storm overflow improvements across our region.

“We’re also in the process of upgrading Bournemouth’s Holdenhurst Water Recycling Centre, a £30 million project that will increase sewage treatment capacity to further protect the area’s fantastic beaches.”