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QUICK GUIDE: How to find out the Water Quality in your local river 1) 2) Type your postcode it into the Environment Agency's water quality map homepage (on the right handside under 'Is you local river healthy?') and clik GO. 3)
Navigate around the map (by using the arrow keys, dragging the map or
zooming in and out) until you find a blue triangle on the river close
to your area of your interest. They are usually located every 5 miles
or so. Blue Triangles represent the Envrionment Agency's river water
quality monitoring sites. 4)
Click on the Blue Triangle you are interested in. Sometimes the results
will be for a tributary of the river, not the whole river. Often the
test will be done at the junction of two rivers. Data is provided for:* Chemistry (A-F) * Biology (A-F) * Phosphates (1-6) * Nitrates (1-6) * Year of sampling A or 1 is the best, F or 6 the worst. Nitrates and Phosphates are not poisonsous but they can make the river green (eutrophication). You should not swim in a river with a Biological or Chemical rating of D, E or F. You should exercise caution in a river of level C by covering cuts with a plaster and trying to keep your head above water. A and B are good or very good water quality rivers - enjoy! Water Quality and Ecology 
The Environment Agency monitors all our rivers, streams and
lakes regularly at over 7,000 locations. River
quality targets are assigned
based on biological, chemical and nutrient testing. Over 70 per cent of
the
rivers of Most people’s first concern is usually sewage but with the new European Water Framework Directive in place all effluent now undergoes at least two treatments before entering a river and, increasingly, a third to make it completely sterile and pure. Any bacteria that do remain are quickly killed by the sun’s UV rays, or eaten up in the micro-foodchain of the river so, the further downstream of the treatment works you are, the cleaner the water will become. Treatment sites are indicated on OS maps as a little cluster of four or six circles by rivers near towns. WWF UK Freshwater Program 
Although the water quality of almost every swim
in the Wild
Swimming book is A or B there’s still much
to be done to make every river and
lake in the See their new report on the state of the Thames - this is a clean river but climate change is creating new challanges from flooding and drought.
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