Watching families spread their towels on a British beach with kids running toward the water while raw sewage is being dumped into the same sea somewhere upstream or directly below via a storm overflow pipe is unsettling. It occurs more frequently than most people would like to consider for anyone who has recently swum in a river in the UK, the question of what is in the water no longer seems abstract.
Although the issue of sewage in England’s bathing waters is not new, awareness of it has increased. Storm overflows in the pipe systems intended to release combined wastewater during heavy rainfall have put water companies under intense scrutiny. Critics contend that these systems are used far too frequently.
Historically coastal areas have fared better, but inland conditions are completely different. A significant portion of England’s approved river, lake estuary swimming areas are officially classified as “Poor”, which means they frequently fall short of water quality requirements for bacteria like “E. coli” and intestinal enterococci. These are not esthetic issues. These are the kinds of organisms that actually cause disease.
So how do you really make sure before you go swimming? Every approved bathing water in England is included in the searchable database Swimfo, which is maintained by the Environment Agency and is rated as Excellent, Good, Sufficient, or Poor each year. Each classification is based on four years of bacterial sampling data, which is a purposeful decision because a single test won’t tell you much because water quality varies with seasons, rainfall agricultural activity.
A longer pattern is reflected in the rating. Swimfo has a pollution risk forecasting feature that alerts users when conditions like heavy rain, high tides, or specific wind directions are likely to temporarily deteriorate water quality, even at an otherwise highly rated location. Before leaving, it’s a good idea to check the forecast and the classification.
Surfers Against Sewage operates a “Safer Seas and Rivers Service” that covers about 850 UK locations and provides real-time discharge information. Using data from the water company and modeling to create risk assessments, their sewage alert app notifies users when a designated bathing water has been impacted by a nearby discharge.
The live sewage map, on the other hand, displays active combined sewer overflows throughout the nation, but it’s important to recognize the distinction: a discharge on a map indicates that sewage has entered the water somewhere, but it doesn’t necessarily indicate that the specific location where you wish to swim has been compromised.
The best indicator to exercise caution is heavy rain. Bacterial levels can stay high for 24 to 48 hours after the rain stops, which causes storm overflows. It’s probably best to wait if there has been a lot of rain in the past day or two, especially near rivers and inland locations, which are typically more vulnerable than open coastal water.
In certain areas, it seems like the general public is still learning the true meaning of designated bathing water status. Clean water is not guarantyd by it. It indicates that the water is observed, the findings are released you have knowledge to take action.
Lakes and rivers without designation status are managed for fish and wildlife rather than people, which can increase health risks and make data more difficult to locate. More important than it may seem is the difference between designated and undesignated spots.
Given the scope of the issue, checking the water quality before a swim in the UK has become surprisingly manageable. The primary tools that most swimsuits will require are covered by Swimfo, the Bathing Water Data Explorer the Surfers Against Sewage app.
It’s still unclear if the data always reaches people in time to alter behavior on any given afternoon, it does exist, is free for anyone going into open water in England is worth a few minutes before entering.