Could water companies be complicit in causing avoidable harm to UK water users?
Water companies are pumping raw sewage into our rivers and seas while bad data and confusing messages make for hard decision making. People deserve to know if it’s safe to swim.
That’s why we created the Safer Seas and Rivers Service. Water users have been using the SSRS to check for risks of poor water quality for over a decade. But we need better information from water companies. In recent years, with more data being released, we’ve been scrutinising this information more closely and demanding transparency about how assessments are made.
Report reveals the water industry is failing to accurately inform the public about sewage pollution.
The latest UK Water Industry report just dropped, and it’s a big deal for everyone campaigning for clean, safe bathing waters. In short? It confirms what we’ve been shouting about for years – water companies are failing to meet public needs when it comes to communicating sewage pollution. Their current systems are confusing, inconsistent, and in some cases, dangerously misleading.
The report lays out new guidance for a standardised way to share sewage alerts – a single framework that could finally make things clear and consistent across the UK. That’s huge. It means regulators and companies all have a benchmark for what good communication looks like, and a clear route to get there.
A national approach would mean consistent information across the UK, making sewage alerts clearer, more reliable, and backed by regulators. No more triangulating of different systems and complicated jargon – just one trusted system that puts public health first.
Right now, water companies aren’t legally required to provide risk assessments showing how sewage discharges affect bathing waters. We believe they should be. The public has a right to know, especially given the surge in interest in this data and the very real health risks of swimming in sewage.
What data is currently being used?
English water companies were legally required to provide real-time data on all combined sewer overflows by the start of 2025. On paper, that sounds like progress. In practice, it falls far short. The data shows when an overflow is operating, but it doesn’t tell the public the one thing they need to know: is the water safe to swim in?
According to the report:
Public awareness of the issues relating to water pollution are also at an all-time high. Therefore, accurate and trusted information on bathing water quality is of paramount importance
Due to this data being made available there’s now no shortage of sewage maps in the public domain. Every water company has one. Independent researchers have them. Other NGOs too. But here’s the catch: these maps only tell you if an overflow is operating. They don’t tell you the one thing you really need to know – is it safe to get in the water?
That’s why Surfers Against Sewage runs the Safer Seas & Rivers Service app. We take all the available data and turn it into something that matters: a clear health warning. Two water companies also issue public bathing water alerts: Southern Water through Rivers & Seas Watch and South West Water through WaterFit Live. Anglian Water has a system called BeachAware that models sewage impact and issues alerts. However, they don’t show it publicly- only through our service. The rest -Wessex, United Utilities, Yorkshire, Northumbrian, Thames Water, Welsh Water – each have their own thresholds and methods, which we have to translate into alerts so people can actually use them. For Severn Trent we have no way of issuing an alert for this bathing waters in their region as they’ve provided us with no information.
And that’s the problem in a nutshell. The water companies provide no consistency, no trusted standards, and no reliable way of telling the public when sewage might impact water quality.
Take sewage maps, for example. You can see a cluster of overflows near the stretch of coast or river where you swim. But what does that really mean for you in the water? A discharge marker gives some information, but not enough to make a clear decision. If you’re a local who knows the currents and geography, you might be able to interpret it. But if you’re visiting a new beach, or don’t know how to read raw spill data, you’re left guessing
An honest look at water company sewage maps
The research focused on two things: improving the accuracy of pollution prediction models and reviewing water company maps to assess whether they actually meet public needs. The verdict? They don’t.
Surfers Against Sewage sat on the project’s steering group as our app still remains the only national platform offering clear, real-time sewage alerts for bathing waters. When water companies finally released their sewage maps last year, many hoped this would lift the lid on transparency. It hasn’t. The maps fall short of basic usability, offering little clarity or trust. That’s why people continue to rely on the Safer Seas & Rivers Service (SSRS)
The SSRS already does this.
- Clearly show when and where bathing waters are impacted.
- Includes historical spill data for all sites, the only service doing this for all locations
- Provides real-time notifications (and have done for 10+ years).
- Ability for users to submit evidence of pollution or sickness reports through the app
These are not “future aims”, they’re live features today.
The report also recommends a red, amber, green colour system. The SSRS has used that from day one.
Symbology and Colour Schemes: Variations in visual representations, such as icons and colours, are evident across platforms, with some being extremely complex to read.
Regarding Northumbrian Water’s Overflow Map
It uses green to indicate no recent spills, yellow for spills that have occurred in the last 24 hours, and blue for current spills. However, some participants described the colour scheme as “misleading,” particularly the use of blue for ongoing releases. One participant explained, “You know, blue to me, particularly when associated with water, is good. This is not the case here.”
Why it’s so important
So far in 2025, bathing waters have turned red on our app 35,902 times due to sewage pollution across England, Scotland, and Wales. With 650 official bathing waters, this means each beach has, on average, been considered unsafe to swim 55 times this year due to sewage pollution.
On top of this, we’ve had 1,322 sickness reports submitted to us totaling 2,547 work days lost. These come from every corner of the UK, inland and coastal.
What Happens Next
Now, we’re taking this forward. We’ll be keeping the pressure on water companies to push for consistency and clarity across the UK. No more hiding behind vague models or setting their own thresholds. The UKWIR guidance lays out what “sewage impact” should mean. It’s time for every company to adopt it.
We’ve never trusted water company models, they’ve been too inconsistent, too unaccountable. With UKWIR’s work as a baseline, we’re demanding real reform: alerts that are accurate, consistent, and free from industry bias. Because when that happens, the public gets to make informed choices, and thousands could be spared from falling ill after going in the sea or river.
