River Thames spot among 13 sites shortlisted for swimming status

The first designated bathing water area on the River Thames in London has been proposed as one of 13 new monitored swimming areas across the country.

The Thames at Ham, in south-west London, was shortlisted as a new river bathing water after campaigners gathered evidence to show thousands of people use the river for swimming throughout the year.

Marlene Lawrence, the founder of the Teddington Bluetits, which has more than 2,000 members, put in the bathing water application alongside her colleagues. “This would be amazing for the river and for the many people who enjoy it,” she said. “We want bathing water status to be a driver of keeping the River Thames clean and it will be fantastic to have this part of the river designated.”

The designation could prove difficult for Thames Water, which is attempting to drive through a water recycling scheme to draw off tens of millions of litres of water a day from the Thames near the proposed bathing water area and replace it with treated effluent from the large Mogden sewage works in west London to help tackle water shortages.

Marlene Lawrence, founder of the Teddington Bluetits, said the designation would be a “‘driver of keeping the River Thames clean’. Photograph: Mick Sinclair/Alamy

The company first suggested the plan in 2019 and the Environment Agency rejected it because of the anticipated negative impact on the environment of releasing millions of litres of treated effluent into the river.

Other waterway locations shortlisted to be designated as bathing water areas include a tidal inlet just off the River Yealm in the south Devon; part of the River Fowey in Lostwithiel, Cornwall; the River Dee at Sandy Lane, Chester; a sea swimming area at Little Shore, Amble, in Northumberland; Pangbourne Meadow in Berkshire, which inspired the novel The Wind in the Willows; and the River Swale in Richmond, Yorkshire.

Campaigners began fighting for bathing water status for rivers six years ago under the EU-derived bathing water directive. Rivers are suffering from a toxic cocktail of sewage discharge from water companies, forever chemicals and road and agricultural runoff.

Bathing water status requires more rigorous testing by the regulator, the Environment Agency, which is required to monitor the water for faecal indicator organisms. Water companies have come under pressure to cut sewage pollution in areas that have been designated as bathing water sites.

At Ilkley in West Yorkshire, where the Wharfe became the first river to be given bathing water status, Yorkshire Water is implementing more than £85m in infrastructure improvements to boost water quality.

Discharge seen flowing into the River Thames at Crossness sewage treatment works. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Save our Swale, the local campaign group that submitted the application for the River Swale in Yorkshire, said bathers had used the river at Richmond Falls for decades but it had been polluted by several water company sewage spills from storm overflows.

Deborah Meara, the chair of Save our Swale, said, “Getting this far has involved a lot of hard work by our volunteer team, and we are grateful for all the hours, often spent in pouring rain, sampling at our test sites up and down the Swale.

“If SOS does finally achieve designated bathing water status, it will be an important benefit to the community, as the location is used by hundreds of people in the summer months and they deserve to bathe in their local river without risk from raw sewage pollution.”

Local communities are being invited to have their say on the proposals for the 13 sites in a six-week public consultation.

Emma Hardy, the water and flooding minister, said: “Rivers and beaches are at the heart of so many communities – where people come together, families make memories, and swimmers of all ages feel the benefits of being outdoors safely. Our plans to designate new bathing water sites show how we are backing local ambition and recognising the pride in places that matter most to people.”

The new designations would increase the number of designated bathing water areas to 464.

Head of campaigns at River Action, Amy Fairman, said, “We welcome efforts to classify more of the UK’s waterways as bathing sites, as this means they will be monitored seasonally for pollution.”

But she said water quality in all but two of England’s 14 designated inland bathing sites were rated poor. “This is a national embarrassment, especially when France has over 1,200 inland bathing sites with most rated excellent.

“Until water companies are restructured to put people, nature and society ahead of profit, agricultural pollution is properly tackled, and the chemical cocktail choking our waterways is curbed, our rivers will remain among the dirtiest in Europe.”

The sites under consultation are: