Health & Beauty
Extent of UK river pollution
Just 14% of England’s rivers, lakes and coastal waters in good ecological health.
6 August 2026
Main image: Water testing on the River Thames during the Great UK WaterBlitz in Richmond, London, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. Lee Mills/AP Content Services for Avaaz
Thousands of people across the UK are taking water testing into their own hands this weekend, (Friday 18 to Monday 21 September), testing the rivers, streams, lakes and canals where they swim, live and take their children, as part of the biggest Great UK WaterBlitz to date.
Almost 7,000 testing kits were distributed across the country for the four-day WaterBlitz, run by Earthwatch Europe in collaboration with Avaaz. Participants test for nitrates and phosphates, while a smaller group also collects samples for PFAS – or ‘forever chemicals’ – for analysis by Imperial College London.
‘What makes the WaterBlitz so valuable is that people are testing the waters they actually use and care about – including places that can fall through the gaps of official monitoring. Put together, thousands of local tests can show us where our waterways are under pressure and where we need to look more closely.’
CLAIRE WILLIAMS
Earthwatch Europe’s Freshwater Watch team
Across the country, communities are organising around the waters they care about – from Scout groups in Devon and a cancer support group in Derry to wild swimmers, families and residents taking to the water by boat in Canterbury.
For Anna Hildersley, an Avaaz member who lives near the River Walkham in Devon, taking part is deeply personal. Her son Dylan, who has autism, finds the river calming and loves swimming there. This summer, Anna says he came home violently sick after a swim.
‘The river does Dylan the world of good’, Anna said. ‘He loves watching it, listening to it and swimming in it. With the cost of living the way it is, being able to have a free day out with our children really matters – and we should be able to do that without worrying about them coming home sick. That’s why this testing matters.’
‘Clean water should not be a postcode lottery. Wherever you live, you should be able to swim, paddle and enjoy your local river without worrying about pollution or getting sick. Being able to trust the water on your doorstep should be a basic expectation in every community, not a privilege enjoyed by some.’
STEVE RACE MP
Labour
Politicians also joined local testing events across the country, as scrutiny grows over whether the Clean Water Bill will match the scale of public concern about water pollution.
The government says the Clean Water Bill will bring a major overhaul of water regulation, including a new integrated regulator.
‘At the start of summer, Ham and Kingston Riverside received bathing water designation, but already toxic algae has been found in the water, while Thames Water wants to dump treated sewage in the river just up the road. The volunteers participating across the country in the Great UK WaterBlitz are doing a better job at holding water companies to account than many of the formal authorities.’
SARAH OLNEY MP
Liberal Democrats
The WaterBlitz also points to pollution far beyond sewage alone. Participants test for nitrates and phosphates, pollutants that can reflect pressures from agriculture as well as wastewater.
For the first time, selected volunteers are also collecting samples for PFAS analysis by Imperial College London, bringing a less visible form of pollution into the WaterBlitz.
‘Water pollution is a national scandal, and tackling it means dealing with both sewage and agricultural pollution. Rivers and lakes don’t care whether pollution comes from a pipe or a field, and the law shouldn’t either. The Clean Water Bill must tackle both, with strong rules, proper enforcement and more support for farmers to move to river-friendly farming.’
DR ELLIE CHOWNS MP
Green Party
‘PFAS are the pollution you can’t see’, said Leon Barron, Professor of Analytical & Environmental Sciences at Imperial College London. ‘A river can look clean and still contain these highly persistent chemicals. Bringing PFAS testing into the WaterBlitz for the first time lets us look beneath the surface at a form of pollution that can otherwise go unnoticed.’
The full WaterBlitz and PFAS results will come later this year, but the scale of participation is already putting the future of Britain’s waterways firmly in the spotlight.
Earthwatch Europe will publish its analysis of the nationwide results in November, with the PFAS results also expected then.
Just 14% of England’s rivers, lakes and coastal waters in good ecological health.
13 new bathing sites open across England, including first-ever site on London’s River Thames.
National survey finds microplastic pollution around Britain’s coastline could be double the levels previously recorded.
