Citizen Science Data HQ guide

In the UK, there are several ways in which our rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastline are officially monitored. The Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) Regulations 2017, and the Bathing Water Regulations 2013 dictate how we monitor, assess and improve water quality.

All waterways, including rivers, lakes, groundwater, and coastal areas up to 1 nautical mile offshore, are assessed under the Water Environment legislation. This assessment is focused on determining ecological and chemical status. This must be carried out at least once every six years, along with a river basin management plan. Within this cycle, different elements of the water quality are assessed more regularly. However, only once every six years does the actual full assessment happen, which results in updated classifications. Ecosystem health is the focus of this monitoring, not risk to human health.

Only waterways which are officially classified as designated bathing waters are monitored under the Bathing Water Regulations. The UK has over 600 designated bathing waters, which are monitored and classified to assess risk to human health from accessing the water. Bathing waters are monitored annually throughout the official bathing season (15th May-30th September in England and Wales and 1st June – 15th September in Scotland and Northern Ireland), with samples taken at weekly intervals. At the end of the bathing season, sites are classified on an annual basis.

In addition to the direct monitoring of water quality, pollution events such as sewage discharges are recorded, with the respective regulators; Environment Agency (England), Natural Resources Wales (Wales), Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Scotland) and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Northern Ireland) required to carry out some investigative monitoring at sites of concern.

Water quality monitoring also takes place outside of these official programmes, for example through citizen science programmes or academic research.

• All citizen scientists are provided with training, follow the same method and use the same equipment to take samples. The method we follow aligns with the method undertaken by the regulator to monitor bathing water quality.
• When viewing the results on the map there are three values for each location measured in Colony Forming Units (CFU) per 100ml (CFU/100ml). There is a CFU/100ml value for E. coli, intestinal enterococci and total coliforms.
• To find out what this data means and how it compares to the bathing water standards check out our data interpretation guidance.
• Bathing Waters are classified based on the amount of bacteria found in samples throughout the bathing season and then given a classification of ‘excellent’, ‘good’, ‘sufficient’ or ‘poor’.
  Tables 1 and 2 show the classification thresholds used for coastal and inland bathing waters in the UK.

• Check if your spot is a designated bathing water
• Check the Safer Seas and Rivers Service app for real-time spill alerts at your local bathing water
• Check your region’s ecological status classification to understand more about what pressures your waterway faces: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

SAS operates a citizen science programme, where we support a number of communities in ongoing weekly water quality testing for faecal indicator microorganisms (Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci).

However, we can only support a small number of communities. Water quality testing is costly – and support with equipment provision, sampling guidance, and data interpretation is time consuming. As a charity with a small team of water quality specialists, we have limited resources available to support the wider community of water users in undertaking their own testing. As such, we’re currently unable to offer direct support and/or funding for water quality testing for everyone.

Even though we may not be able to support you directly, there are a number of ways you can find out more about the water quality at your local coastal or inland waterway. You’ll find other options below.

• If you can tap into funding, you can purchase the equipment that we use in our citizen science programme. You can find a list of accredited laboratories here to analyse your water samples.
• Some of the organisations listed below in ‘Other resources’ also support communities in monitoring water quality.
• Check out the Catchment Based Approach guide to different monitoring equipment.

• Apply for bathing water status for your local river, lake or beach. Find out how Protecting Wild Waters can help.