Around one in 12 of England’s official swimming spots along coasts, lakes and rivers are failing to meet water quality standards, figures have revealed.
The number of English bathing waters rated poor jumped to record levels as two thirds of the 27 sites newly designated in 2024, many of them rivers struggling with pollution, were branded as “failing” in the official assessment.
The Environment Agency’s monitoring of designated bathing waters during the official swimming season between May and September shows that overall, 8.2% of bathing waters – some 37 sites – were rated “poor” for water quality in 2024.
Out of 450 bathing waters regularly tested for harmful bacteria, 91.8% met at least the minimum standards for clean water while 64.2% reached “excellent” standards, the figures show.
They also revealed a big disparity in water quality between coastal bathing waters, where 95% met the minimum standards, and inland waters such as rivers, where only half (53%) were classed as sufficient or better.
Water Minister Emma Hardy said the figures were “unacceptable” and Environment Agency chairman Alan Lovell said they showed there was still much work to do to tackle pollution, while campaigners called for an overhaul of the system.
This year’s results cover the period 2021 to 2024, with testing for harmful bacteria undertaken through the designated swimming season and the readings for the last four years used to determine the annual classification of each site as excellent, good, sufficient or poor.
The proportion of sites failing to meet minimum standards in water quality and being rated as poor as a result has nearly doubled from 4.3% last year, and is the highest since the current rating system was introduced in 2015, while the percentage of “good” and “excellent” sites has fallen slightly.
Officials said this is in part due to the existing water quality of 27 new bathing sites designated at the start of the season, which have previously not been managed for bathing before and 18 of which were rated poor in their first year of testing.
Many of these new sites failing to make the grade are river waters, which campaigners say highlights how much pollution is being pumped into rivers and estuaries.
The figures come amid a consultation on a shake-up of the system, including removing the fixed summer “season” to account for the rising trend in cold water swimming, expanding the definition of “bathers” to cover other water users such as surfers, and testing at multiple points of a site.
It forms part of Government efforts to address widespread public anger over the polluted state of England’s rivers, lakes and seas, including designated inland and coastal bathing spots.
Officials say water pollution at designated bathing waters comes from a range of sources including sewage, agricultural and road run-off and even dogs and wildlife such as seagulls, while the results are also weather-dependent, with heavy rain washing pollutants into the water.
The monitoring system has faced criticism from campaigners for failing to test popular swimming sites out of season, only monitoring once a week at a single spot on a beach, and for being able to discount some samples if they are taken during short-term pollution events.
Giles Bristow, chief executive of Surfers Against Sewage, said the bathing water classification regime “isn’t just inadequate, it’s misleading and needs radical reform”.
He pointed to Trevaunance Cove in Cornwall, which received an excellent rating in this year’s results, but where community testing had highlighted consistently high levels of pollution in a stream running on to the beach.
Meanwhile, Cullercoats in Tyne and Wear has failed for five years in a row, which under the current system means it automatically loses its designated bathing water status – though that process is also being consulted on.
Mr Bristow urged: “The consultation to reform the regulations is vital and must deliver a year-round bathing season, with year-round testing.
“We need multiple monitoring points and testing for a wide range of pollutants,” he said.
River Action chief executive James Wallace said the results were an “international embarrassment”.
He said: “The Government’s own data shows that swimming in our inland bathing sites poses serious health risks, highlighting the failure of regulators to protect waterways from polluters.
“Awarding bathing water status should ensure that water companies clean up their act urgently,” he said, calling for all bathing sites to have an automatic change to permits requiring water companies to remove bacteria and other pollutants such as “forever chemicals” known as PFAS and drugs.
Mr Lovell said: “While overall bathing water quality has improved in recent decades due to targeted investment and robust regulation, today’s results show there is much work still to do, particularly to bring our inland bathing waters up to standard.
“We are working with the water industry, farmers and local authorities and are investing in our regulation, with more people on the ground, updated digital assets and new legal powers to improve our bathing waters for all.”
Ms Hardy said: “These figures are unacceptable and show that too many of our popular swimming spots are polluted.”
She said the Government was putting water companies under special measures through the Water Bill, which would strengthen regulation of the industry, and has launched a major review of the water sector.
Liberal Democrat Environment spokesperson Tim Farron said people were “rightly furious” at water companies and the previous government over the situation.
“It cannot be right that many are now scared to even swim in their local bathing spots out of a fear of getting ill because of sewage,” he said.
He demanded an overhaul of the industry, and replacing Ofwat with a new regulator that had “real teeth” to clamp down on pollution.
