Spring Great Water Blitz Report

The report has just been published

GUKWB-Spring-25-Report_Spreads_LR.pdf

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The report’s key findings

• 66% of datapoints across the UK show poor water quality, with unacceptable levels of nutrient pollution

• Over three WaterBlitzes, England consistently has the worst water quality in the UK; this April, 74% of sites tested had unacceptable levels of nutrient pollution

• Once again, our data suggest the Thames and Anglian river basin districts have the worst water quality in the UK, with 86% of measurements showing unacceptable levels of nutrient pollution

• The Neagh Bann river basin district in Northern Ireland has the best water quality in the UK

• The Scottish counties of Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale, Ross and Cromarty, Kirkcudbrightshire and Inverness have the best water quality in the UK

• The English counties of East Riding of Yorkshire and Rutland have the worst water quality in the UK, closely followed by Oxfordshire and Hertfordshire

• 24% of datapoints across the UK show E. coli levels that would classify as poor (were the site to be given bathing water status) with significant regional variation

• Our data demonstrate a positive correlation between E. coli levels and phosphate levels, but not between E. coli levels and nitrate levels, demonstrating the importance of regular monitoring by FreshWater Watch citizen scientists and the impact of poor wastewater management