Bathing water status: ‘harsh’ government criteria restricting clean-up of UK rivers - what are the new rules?

The water industry has been slammed as being “besieged by parasites” as new government rules are restricting rivers from being able to achieve an official bathing status. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) introduced a requirement for a minimum number of swimmers to visit the waterway causing many environmental groups to abandon their application.

Environmental groups across the country apply to Defra to have their local river recognised as an official bathing space to better the water quality and reduce pollution. If a river achieves the status the Environment Agency carries out tests on bacteria levels and investigates when the water quality does not meet regulatory standards.

In July the government introduced the new rules, saying that applicants must record 100 bathers using the space on at least two days within the bathing season, which runs from May to September, and that all sites must have a toilet facility within 500m. Next Tuesday (31 October) is the annual deadline for applications for new sites but several campaigners are unable to submit applications for their river due to the new rules. The UK has more than 600 designated bathing water sites, however the majority of these are coastal, only three are located within rivers.

Ashley Smith, from Windrush Against Sewage Pollution (WASP), told NationalWorld that Defra is “once again stepping in to prioritise water company shareholders over the public and to make it more difficult or impossible.” He said: “People may no longer be surprised at the government’s attitude to their wellbeing but it doesn’t have to be like this. We can have clean water and a healthy water industry but not one besieged by parasites in the form of shareholders sucking out the bill payers money that should be spent on the service.”

Kirsty Davies, Community Water Quality Manager at Surfers Against Sewage, added that the new rules “completely disregards the unique nature of our waterways” as it is a “one-size fits all approach” which “is yet another demonstration of government’s lack of understanding of the needs of our rivers and the people who use them”. She told NationalWorld: “These harsh criteria will mean many well-loved waterways are not able to progress through Defra’s bathing water designation process, losing the opportunity for crucial monitoring, essential to improve water quality and provide transparency to water users.”

Ms Davies told iNews that eight communities have been forced to stop their application due to the new criteria including the Clean River Kent Campaign, which was hoping to gain bathing water status for a site in Staveley, Cumbria. Group co-founder Isobel Stoddart told iNews that when the group applied in 202 there “was nothing in the guidelines that said that a bathing site had to attract at least 100 people for a minimum of two days during the bathing season”, adding that it has made it “challenging” for “any upland river to achieve bathing status”.

A Defra spokesperson said: “We encourage applications and provide guidance to help people understand the criteria that must be met, including the need to show that the site is regularly used by sufficient numbers of bathers. The recently updated guidance makes applying for our bathing water designations clearer and more streamlined for applicants. Groups have until the end of October to submit their applications this year.”