Water quality is generally better at the coast than inland rivers. Credit: Getty Images

Is swimming in a polluted river the best way to get it cleaned up? It sounds perverse, but as I discovered on my road trip round all of England’s river bathing sites, there is more than a grain of truth to it.

‌

This is how it works. Rivers that are officially designated as bathing sites in England and Wales receive regular testing from the Environment Agency (EA) throughout the site’s bathing season - usually from 15 May to 30 September. If there’s too much bacteria linked to human and animal faeces in the water then it’s rated “poor” and that leads to further investigation. If it’s then established that sewage spills are to blame, then the water company is instructed to fix it.

‌

So, after decades of having their complaints and citizen science dismissed, many campaigners think that wild swimming might be the cheat-code to get things done.

‌

Earlier this month, I stopped off in West Yorkshire. The River Wharfe at Ilkley was the first river to be designated as a bathing site in 2020 - and its water quality has stubbornly rated as “poor” ever since. But campaigners hope that could soon change. With sewage spills blamed, Yorkshire Water is investing £60m to try and reduce the amount getting into the river.

‌

“Disgustingly bonkers” was how Karen Shackleton from the Ilkley Clean River Group described things. Di Leary, who bravely swum for our cameras, called it a “Catch-22” situation. 

Di and Karen swim in the River Wharfe to campaign for better water quality. 

To get designation, campaigners have to prove the location meets several criteria (not related to water quality) and provide evidence that it receives at least 100 people on at least two days during the bathing season. In short: you need to get lots of people into your river. 

I leapt into the River Teme with Alison Biddulph at Ludlow. It was the only time I swam on the road trip (mainly due to it being too cold rather than fears over faecal bacteria).

‌

As well as being freezing, Ludlow is one of three sites where Alison has secured bathing site status. All have rated “poor” in the two years since designation, but there are now sondes (water testing devices) providing constant updates on water quality and analysis being carried out to establish whether its principally human or animal faeces to blame.

‌

“I'm hoping that eventually there'll be so many river sites that they’ll do away with having designated sites and just make the rules that you have to test and improve the rivers everywhere,” Alison told me.

‌

On Friday, 13 more bathing sites were added to the EA’s list, of which six are on inland rivers, including a first site on the River Thames in London. It is likely to be rated as “poor” initially.

‌

The water companies are not impressed. In a statement, they said that designating places as bathing sites when they weren’t suitable for swimming risked “confusing” people. The government has said that designation will give swimmers “greater confidence” and that “generational” reforms of the water industry and a shake-up of regulation should bring improvements.