At the last assessment, the Environment Agency concluded only 14% of rivers in England were ecologically healthy. Rivers are threatened by a cocktail of pollutants: from sewage pollution, agriculture, industry and transport. A third of all rivers are failing due to sewage pollution, and in 2021 water companies discharged untreated sewage into rivers for 375,000 hours.

Despite this, every fortnight, over 4.3 million people visit the UK’s lakes and rivers. These inland water bodies provide humans and the wider ecosystem with a range of benefits: from flood prevention to creating habitats to numerous species. Thousands of hours and millions of pounds each year are spent on water-based activities, like swimming, paddle boarding, kayaking, sailing and angling, on and near these “blue spaces” which has been proven to improve our wellbeing.

Swimmers, paddleboarders and kayakers on rivers, lakes and streams deserve to have access to the same high standard of water as those who surf, sail and swim at the coast. The first step to improving the state of our rivers, and ocean, is to make sure the legal obligations are in place to improve water quality, by gaining official bathing water designation.

There are currently only

21

rivers designated as bathing waters in the UK

Every year, over

4.3 million

people visit the UK’s lakes and rivers

The EA concluded just

14%

of rivers in England are ecologically healthy

We are calling for

200

designated inland bathing waters by 2030

Officially designated Bathing Waters are the only blue spaces where water quality is regularly monitored for its effect on human health, and legal obligations are put on polluting industries to clean up their act.

In the UK there are currently only 21 stretches of river that have been designated as bathing waters, and amazingly, the majority of these have been won through local campaigns by individuals like yourself.

You have the power to create a change both at a local and national level. Through this toolkit Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) will support you with the application process and also equip you with how to create a campaign in your community.

Historically local authorities have applied for bathing water designation but there is a growing movement of activism from communities taking place which you can be part of and make an application yourself.

The creation of over 600 coastal bathing waters around the UK has led to 98% of these beaches meeting standards, up from just 27% in the 1990s. Now, the same must happen to our inland waters.

Bathing Water Designation shines a light on the water quality at a specific site which puts polluters in the spotlight. Once designation is granted there is a legal obligation for polluters to clean up their act and also a requirement that the government agency for your region tests the water quality throughout the bathing season. Your bathing water will be tested for Intestinal enterococci and E. coli.

At the end of the bathing season the designated site will be given a classification of either:

Once your site has received its classification this is where we drive for change and hold polluters to account.

This toolkit has been created by SAS from conversations, lessons learnt and best practises shared by community groups that have applied for bathing water or are in the process of applying, along with government and non-government organisations. Nothing ever stands still, so we will update the content continuously to ensure we provide you with the most up to date information and support.

The toolkit will take you through the steps in making an application, these include:

Thank you to all of the community campaigners, fighting to demand designation for their local bathing water. We love sharing updates and success stories on how these campaigns are going. If you’d like us to send you updates as soon as they come in, subscribe to our campaign newsletter.