The Rivers Trust citizen science surveys find pollution in 61% of sites

The Rivers Trust has reported that surveys of UK rivers by members of the public over ten days in May found that 61% of the observations recorded “at least one sign of pollution” including 15% spotting sewage or sewage-related pollutants.

The “citizen science” survey findings under the trust’s Big River Watch also included 53% of surveys reporting litter, though 63% of Big River Watchers reported that they “felt their river looked healthy, and only 25% felt they were looking at an unhealthy river.”

The River Trust said: “It’s unlikely that they were actually healthy. In our 2024 State of Our Rivers Report, we shared that in England alone, no single stretch of river achieved good overall status, and just 15% reached good ecological status.”

The May event was the second Big River Watch. The first took place in September 2023 and the next will begin on 5th September 2024. To accompany the surveys, the Rivers Trust launched the Big River Watch Data Explorer, which provides “the official Water Framework Directive ecological status of each river”.

• The Environment Agency and Natural England have reported that 16% of assessed surface waters in England achieved good ecological status along with 79% of individual tests. For rivers the respective figures were 14% and 77%.

The findings were from the latest State of the water environment indicator: supporting evidence report. For river biology it reported fish (2022 figures) at 43% good status; insects and other invertebrates at 76% good status and vegetation including microscopic plants at 45% good status. 

Meanwhile, good status for water quality was found at 82% of sites for dissolved oxygen, 92% for ammonia and 45% for phosphorus. 

For hazardous substances, good status was found in 0% when mercury, brominated diphenyl ethers, tributyltin and polyaromatic hydrocarbons – so-called ubiquitous, persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic substances – were included. Excluding those substances, good chemical status was recorded at 93%.