Concerns have been raised surrounding the state of the bathing water at Peel beach.

Resident Trevor Cowin and Keys candidate alleged that during the success of Peel Day last month, ’a line of sewage effluent [was visible] on the beach which had obviously been brought in by the tide from the raw sewage outfall off the end of the breakwater.

’People had been walking through the sewage effluent including a dollop of human faeces. There were children and adults in the water enjoying themselves, not realizing what they were swimming in’

There is a sign on display at the end of Peel Promenade which reads: ’This bathing water has not been designated for swimming under Europe’s highest standards, but will be tested monthly from May to September.

’This local area is not connected to Manx Utilities sewerage infrastructure which means that untreated waste water enters the sea here.’

However,it is disputed how visible this sign is and whether there is ample warning for swimmers.

One fear highlighted by campaigners is the risk of e-coli infections.

Although people and animals normally have some e-coli in their intestines, some strains cause infection. The bacteria that cause infection can enter into your body in a number of ways.

Poor sanitation can cause water to contain bacteria from human or animal waste. You can get the infection from drinking contaminated water or from swimming in it.

The safe level of contamination for bathing waters is 250 coliforms E-coli per measured sample - just one gram of human faeces can contain 400 million coliforms of E-coli according to a Purdue University study.

The Department of the Environment, Food and Agriculture has licensed Manx Utilities Authority a contamination limit of 40 milligrams per litre of effluent. That would be 16 million coliforms of E-coli per litre.

The wastewater in Peel will produce more than 3,000 cubic metres of effluent per day. That level of effluent will dump 120 kilograms of untreated sewage in the bay each day.

That is in theory around 4.8 billion coliforms of E-coli per day.

People are calling for assurances that a sewage treatment plant will be built in Peel - not dissimilar to the recent development of 1950s sewage treatment works in Ballaugh by Manx Utilities, worth £3 million.

Manx Utilities lost a planning battle to build one near Peel earlier this year.