Water pollution: How clean are the UK's rivers and lakes? (2024)

FAQs

Water pollution: How clean are the UK's rivers and lakes? ›

The country's rivers are far from healthy – one of the environmental issues that was at the forefront of the UK's general election. Just 14% of England's rivers meet the standards of a "good ecological status" under the Water Framework Directive for England and Wales.

Just how bad is it? The UK's antiquated, outdated sewerage system is in a terrible state. It cannot cope with the combined problems of increasing population, urbanisation and climate change. In 2022 there were over 399,864 discharges of untreated sewage into UK rivers.

The UK water industry treats 15,315 million litres per day and supplies it directly to almost every household across the country. This water is treated to some of the strictest levels in the world and passes over 99.95% of tests.

There is currently only have one declared Inland Bathing water in the UK on the River Wharfe in Yorkshire. The declaration requires water companies to prevent sewage pollution upstream of the swimming site, and makes the water quality safer for recreational use.

Sewage spills into England's rivers and seas by water companies more than doubled last year. According to the Environment Agency there were 3.6 million hours of spills compared to 1.75 million hours in 2022.

No single stretch of river in England or Northern Ireland is in good overall health. Just 15% of English, 31% of Northern Irish, and 50% of Irish river stretches reach good ecological health standards. Toxic chemicals persist in every stretch of English rivers.

The country's rivers are far from healthy – one of the environmental issues that was at the forefront of the UK's general election. Just 14% of England's rivers meet the standards of a "good ecological status" under the Water Framework Directive for England and Wales.

There are lots of freshwater fish in the UK, all are technically edible even the spiny little things could be boiled up in a soup, there is nothing actually poisonous. The deciding factor is whether they come out of clean enough water or not.

It is difficult to determine which river is the cleanest in Europe as it depends on the specific location and the measure used to define "clean." However, some of the cleanest rivers in Europe include the Rhine, the Elbe, and the Thames.

The UK consistently ranks as one of the worst European countries for coastal water quality thanks to the staggering amount of sewage, pollution and run-off entering our water. In 2021 alone there were over 370,000 discharges of raw sewage into UK rivers and seas.

What is the problem with the water quality in England? ›

excessive use of fertiliser and pesticides in agriculture – identified as being responsible for 40% of water pollution in England. untreated sewage released by water companies – responsible for 35% so-called “run-off” from roads and towns which contains pollutants such as oil – responsible for 18%

urban waste water

Every day in the UK about 347,000 kilometres of sewers collect over 11 billion litres of waste water. This is treated at about 9,000 sewage treatment works before the treated effluent is discharged to inland waters, estuaries and the sea.

With the largest population in the world, China is easily the top ranked country by the amount of wastewater produced.

Although water from streams and rivers is generally safe, you should always follow good hygiene rules and be aware of possible water-borne infections. Possible infections are described below: E Coli is most likely to be contracted by swallowing water contaminated with sewerage.

In the UK, the law on nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) pollution – one of the most harmful pollutants – says annual average concentrations cannot exceed 40 µg/m³ (micrograms per cubic metre of air). The latest figures show that, in 2021, 10 of the 43 national reporting zones suffered with illegal levels of NO₂ pollution.

As we already know, rivers are very complex systems that are heavily influenced by their surroundings. So, it could be completely natural for a river in an upland peat bog to have discolored and sediment rich brown water, but in a lowland city region this could be a sign of sewage pollution.

The maps below show the most recent results of some of these parameters that our volunteers have measured. While surveys showed that water quality in the Thames was stable, 92% of samples revealed a significant presence of coliform bacteria.