Anglian Water aims to test cleanliness of River Cam for swimming

Anglian Water has announced it will begin regular water sampling in the River Cam to assess the suitability of a stretch of river for swimming.

The company has chosen three popular wild swimming sites in the East of England including the the River Cam south of Cambridge, the River Deben at Woodbridge in Suffolk and the River Waveney in Bungay, also in Suffolk.

It is hoped the data will provide valuable information for local river groups, who already use the areas for wild swimming, as some plan to progress applications for formal bathing water designation via the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

In recent years, The Cam Valley Forum has been sampling water along parts of the River Cam, with worrying results at popular swimming spot Sheep’s Green.

The forum's Mike Foley, who carried out the research, said: “I welcome this move by Anglian Water to carry out regular sampling in the River Cam. Some of our results have shown uncomfortably high levels of faecal indicator bacteria in the River Cam - which means faeces, and therefore the viruses and bacteria they contain, are present. These have appeared not just after storms, when the sewage works at Haslingfield may have suffered storm overflows, but at other times when we would not have predicted these levels. It will be useful to see if a pattern emerges and if Anglian Water discovers unexplained high levels of these indicator bacteria I’m sure it will want to act on this information”.

He added: “I consider the forum to be a 'critical friend' of the water company, and am delighted that the results from our citizen science project together with constructive lobbying by communities on the Cam, especially swimmers and our many other river users, have prompted the company to expand testing to the highest standard and integrity, and to pledge improvements. Anglian Water's willingness to work in partnership with us and openly share all their data at every stage is laudable.”

Anglian Water will fund a “robust” sampling methodology, working with local groups to undertake analysis to assess the suitability of these river stretches for bathing, under the guidance of the Centre for Research into Environment and Health (CREH), who are affiliated with the World Health Organisation.

Prof David Kay, from Centre for Research into Environment and Health (CREH),said: “It is key to ensure the data produced is quality assured and credible. This can be achieved by using samplers and laboratories maintained by UK regulators and that are externally audited on a regular basis.”

The water company says it will review any action needed at its own treatment works and networks to clean up these stretches of river to make them safe to swim in as well as working to bring together partners from other sectors and organisations who may also be contributing to the quality of the water.

The announcement comes as Anglian Water has committed to go further to clean up rivers as part of its Get River Positive programme

It forms the basis of commitments made by the water company to ensure that storm overflows and sewage treatment works do not harm rivers and the first stages towards the aim of 90 per cent of the region’s population living less than one hour from a designated bathing spot by 2030.

Dr Robin Price. director of quality and environment for Anglian Water, said: “Since the pandemic, we’ve seen an enormous surge of people embracing their local environment and using their local rivers and water courses for wild swimming, paddleboarding and canoeing.

“We fully support the aspirations of our customers that our rivers should be beautiful places, rich in nature, but also know how valuable they have become for community recreation and wellbeing, and the expectation that they should be safe places for people to enjoy. We want people to know we are listening - as part of Get River Positive we’re committed to playing our part in making that happen by ensuring our operations are not the reason for poor river health, but as importantly, we’ll work to bring the right people together who also have a role to play.”