‘Citizen scientists’ to check UK rivers for sewage and pollution

Rivers will be checked for sewage and other pollution by the general public this month in an attempt to assess the health of British waterways.

Cuts to the UK regulators and a change in the law to allow water company self-monitoring of pollution in England mean there is little independent monitoring of the state of rivers in the UK.

When the UK was in the EU, it was subject to the water framework directive , which meant it had to carry out detailed pollution analysis of waterways and report every year. There has not been a survey done under the WFD since 2019, and the Conservative government began the process of removing the EU standards from UK legislation. The Labour government has not indicated whether it intends to continue this deregulation.

’Citizen scientists’ have therefore been intensifying efforts to check rivers for pollution to try to find the true scale of the problem.

The Rivers Trust has developed an app for its Big River Watch and is asking users to spend 15 minutes by their local river and fill in a survey, building up a picture of the damage done to rivers around the UK. The survey includes questions on river wildlife, signs of pollution, and health and wellbeing.

Tessa Wardley, the director of communication and advocacy at the Rivers Trust, said: “We know that no rivers in England are in good overall health, but we also know that environmental monitoring is currently very sparse. Having a large set of data from one weekend will help our experts to understand what’s going on in our rivers, and what needs to be done to make them cleaner, healthier, and part of a thriving wider environment.

“As well as learning where pollution and wildlife are spotted, we also want to know how spending time near rivers affects people’s wellbeing, so I’d encourage anyone and everyone to spend some time by their river and make their voice heard.”

This week, the government announced it would take measures to force water bosses to clean up waterways in England and Wales.

Water bosses who cover up data around sewage spills could be jailed for up to two years under legislation introduced to the House of Commons on Thursday. CEO bonuses will be blocked if companies fail to meet environmental, consumer and fiscal targets, and ministers plan to pass legislation that would force water companies to pay the enforcement costs of the Environment Agency and Drinking Water Inspectorate if they are under investigation.

The environment secretary, Steve Reed, also announced a comprehensive review into the structure of the water industry, with the terms of reference to be announced later in the autumn.

Campaigners, however, said these measures alone would not end the sewage crisis and that regulators needed more funding and strengthening, and that there needed to be a plan with targets and milestones to phase out spills of human waste into rivers and seas.

The Big River Watch runs from 6-12 September.