The designated swimming spots in Oxford and Yorkshire were the first to be established in the nation’s rivers but DNA testing by the Environment Agency (EA) has found sewage discharges and agriculture are the primary culprits of their pollution.
The i Paper obtained copies of the watchdog’s “action plans” for Wolvercote Mill Stream and Ilkley’s River Wharfe under Freedom of Information requests.
The DNA testing is costly and it is understood the EA can only afford to carry it out at a limited number of sites.
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The watchdog estimates that sewage is responsible for 70 per cent of pollution at the site, while agriculture is responsible for 30 per cent.
At Ilkley, faecal matter from humans, cows and sheep has been recorded. The EA predicts agriculture is responsible for 66 per cent of pollution at the site, while sewage is responsible for 33 per cent. However, these figures are disputed by local groups who have done their own testing.
The EA has provided updates on its website in regards to the investigations at the bathing sites, but has not made the action plans or all of the underlying testing public.
What is a bathing site?
The UK has over 600 designated bathing waters, which are popular swim sites where the water quality is regularly tested from May to September each year.
The vast majority of these sites are on the coast, with a smaller number in inland waters.
For the past few years groups across the country have been campaigning for bathing spots to be introduced in rivers as part of efforts to clean up Britain’s heavily polluted waterways.
The first bathing spot in an English river was designated in 2020 on a stretch of the River Wharfe at Ilkley, near Bradford.
In 2022, a second spot was designated at Wolvercote Mill Stream in Oxford. There are now 14 bathing spots in rivers in England after the Tories designed a flurry before leaving Government in 2024.
All bar one of England’s river bathing sites currently record a “poor” water quality, meaning high levels of E.coli and Intestinal Enterococci have been detected at the sites. Both are bacteria found in human and animal faeces.
“I’m feeling pretty frustrated by how slow it’s been to get clarity about what the problem is and what needs to be done and the slowness of sharing results from the Environment Agency,” said Claire Robertson, River Projects Officer at Thames21, which applied for the bathing spot at Wolvercote Mill Stream.
“There’s a lot of volunteers and citizen scientists who want to help clean up the bathing water. If we knew these things sooner we could have had a more coherent plan of how to go there and work together to investigate those potential sources,” she said.
The EA said the official bathing spot only covers the area above the treatment works, but Malby argues people swim all along the stretch. She therefore disagrees that sewage is only responsible for 33 per cent of pollution at the site and claims it is likely to be higher.
Yorkshire Water is now upgrading its wastewater treatment works in a move Malby says will dramatically improve water quality at the site, but she said the EA has been “slow to get to the table”.
The Government is changing the rules over bathing site applications in a move that critics say will make it harder for new rivers to gain status.
Malby said this will make it harder to get the status for rivers. She said people will still swim at spots without official status, but will not have the benefit of testing and signage to let them know when its appropriate to swim.
“Every river should have the potential to get [a sufficient water quality standard]. We’re saying our rivers are so polluted people can’t let their kids paddle in them. That means they’re destroying fish, wildlife, and the entire ecosystem.”
Robertson said she would like to see the Government actively boost the number of bathing spots in rivers as part of a clean-up operation.
The i Paper’s Save Britain’s Rivers campaign has been calling on the Government to commit to a target of 100 bathing spots in England’s rivers by the end of this Parliament.
However, the water minister, Emma Hardy, has resisted calls to implement a target.
She added: “The Government is upgrading outdated regulations so they are fit for purpose. It is also why we are re-opening applications for new bathing sites in England, so that more people have the opportunity to experience the benefits of our beautiful waters.”
An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “We know just how important England’s bathing waters are to people and to local economies, which is why we work closely with communities, the agricultural sector and water companies to understand the unique pressures each designated site faces.”
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