The Sewage Campaign Network is urging everyone to write to their MP to call for a stop to the water bills being increased. 

In its fact sheet it states: ' All our rivers are polluted, and all our chalk streams are in poor health. Untreated sewage was dumped in our waterways 464,056 times for over 3.5 million hours in 2023, which is 1,271 discharges a day – that’s the equivalent of sewage flowing nonstop for 450 years.

'Water Bill Rises:  Ofwat has decided that our water bills are to go up by an average of £123 this year from April (the range is £79 to £224 depending on where you live), to bail out the failing water companies that pollute our rivers, lakes and seas for profit. But that’s not the end of it, prices will continue to rise for the rest of this decade by 36%, sending good money after bad, and we have no choice. Six water companies are challenging the bill rises - they want more!

'Criminal Investigations and Poor Performance: Ofwat along with the Environment Agency, is investigating every water company in England for illegal pollution after Windrush Against Sewage Pollution (WASP) did the regulator’s job, uncovering 9,000 illegal sewage discharges using water industry data Every water company is underperforming and harming our environment, yet we are still asked to pay more. Ofwat, whilst putting up bills has also proposed fines of £168m for Thames Water, Yorkshire Water and Northumberland Water for failing to manage wastewater treatment works and networks and harming the environment.'

There is much more before the conclusion: ' Water companies have polluted our rivers lakes and seas, destroying the environment, threatening people’s health and attacking local businesses that depend on our waters. They have racked up astonishing debt, raked in billions in debt payments, depleted our assets and left our sewage system in decline. They are operating outside the law, failing to deliver on their obligations, perform worse than most water systems in the world, and yet we are being expected to pay more with no end in sight. The ‘vision’ presented here is the dying gasp of a totally broken water system, that services international financiers over customers. This must stop. Make your voice heard. Join the 2,500 people who have already written to their MP demanding that the government stops bill rises now https://campaigns.sewagecampaignnetwork.org.uk/.'

Earthwatch Europe
The Great UK Waterblitz - All catchments
April 25th - 28th

The Great UK WaterBlitz is a biannual campaign calling on everyone to go out and test the quality of their local freshwater including rivers, streams and lakes. This helps to build a national picture of water quality across the UK.

You can now sign up to take part in The Great UK Waterblitz, which this year takes place between April 25th and 28th. There are only a limited number of kits available so if you would like to get involved it's important to sign up early. More information and details for how to sign up are available  here

When teams of citizen scientists tested the waters of the River Ure in October it was found that the level of E.coli concentration at Aysgarth Falls was eight times higher than what is officially considered to be safe for bathing. Above: The Upper Falls at Aysgarth during August 2024

Prof Richard Loutoka, chairman of Stop Ure Pollution with which most of the volunteers were associated, commented: ‘It is a very disappointing result for the state of the river and worrying to think of all the people who use the river for various pastimes.’

In January 2025 SUP raised the alert when it was reported that raw sewage had been discharged into the Ure below Leyburn for 62 hours. Click on Three-Day Sewage Spill for the BBC story.

Read more: High levels of E.coli found in the River Ure in October 2024

The river water at Aysgarth Falls did not meet the minimum standard for safe bathing on August 21st when it was tested by Stop Ure Pollution (SUP) citizen science volunteers.

At a public meeting organised by SUP at Leyburn Methodist Church Hall on October 1st Charlotte Simons of the Yorkshire Dales River Trust (YDRT) reported that 20 out of the 45 sites tested along the river and on some tributaries on August 21st had E-coli concentrations above the levels deemed sufficient (minimum standard for safe bathing).

She said that the E-coli levels that day had risen above that level from Bainbridge until past Spennithorne, with increased levels also at Masham Bridge and Ripon North, with the peak being at Lord’s Bridge near Wensley.

‘None of the results are incredibly high compared to findings on the Wharfe and the Nidd under similar conditions though probably a bit surprising for low flow conditions. The days preceding the sampling had been mostly dry with only light rain in places so the levels of E-coli were not influenced by agricultural runoff or Combined Sewer Overflows due to wet weather.’
She was particularly concerned about the situation at Aysgarth Falls because, due to it being so popular, it could be considered for designated bathing status.

She praised all the volunteers, many of whom were at the meeting, for their efforts. ‘It was a brilliant turnout.’
The chairman of SUP, Prof Richard Loukota, pointed out that the group had only been formed in July and yet 41 of its volunteers had taken part in the testing of the river water on August 21st from Lunds to where the Ure joins the Ouse near Boroughbridge.

Mrs Simons said that the testing had taken place that morning with all the samples from the SUP teams delivered to her at Masham by 2.30pm. The tests also included those for phosphates, ammonia, nitrites, temperature and conductivity and Mrs Simons told the meeting that overall the results reflected a good quality river although further testing was required on the Skell and Tutt tributaries. All these results were on show at exhibitions at the Quaker Meeting Houses in Leyburn October 3rd to 5th. 

Due to the E-coli results Mrs Simons stated that there would need to be another testing when the river water was low due to the high levels of E.coli between Bainbridge and Spennithorne. Checks would also have to be made below the water treatment plant at Redmire.

The water along the length of the River Ure was sampled at 45 sites on August 21st 2024, from the top of Wensleydale to beyond Boroughbridge, by 41 volunteers working with the Yorkshire Dales River Trust (YDRT) and Stop Ure Pollution. This sampling was done to get a picture of the quality of the river and to identify sources of diffuse and point pollution. 

The chairman of SUP, Prof Richard Loukota, commented: ‘It was great to see that SUP volunteers made up almost 88% of the citizen scientists sampling the Ure. This confirmed how concerned our residents are about the state of the river and are prepared to do something about it. I’m sure the results will be illuminating and point our way forward.’

And Charlotte Simons, YDRT’s Catchment Partnership Senior Project Manager said: ‘This scale of testing has only been made possible due to the support of the volunteers. Their support at two local meetings in Leyburn the first on April 30 about the health the River Ure, sponsored by the Association of Rural Communities, and the second on June 25 when Stop Ure Pollution (SUP) was launched, has led directly to this sampling being possible, the results of which will be used to identify key issues and areas where work is needed to improve the quality of the river.’

Thirty six SUP volunteers were trained on taking water samples at a session at Lords Bridge on the Bolton Estate on August 14 with Simons and Mary Boyd from the YDRT. They formed the core of samplers on the 21st, making up 10 teams of volunteers, sampling from the top of the Ure at Lunds all the way downstream to at Aldborough, which is south of Boroughbridge, close to the confluence of the Ure and the Swale.

When thanking the water samplers afterwards Boyd said: ‘All the kits and samples arrived safely and the samples [for faecal bacterial levels] reached the lab by 5pm [on August 21]. The lab has confirmed that there were no issues with any of the samples received. ‘

The samples were sent to ALS independent accredited laboratories at Wakefield and Coventry with the cost of the testing being met by Yorkshire Water.

There will be another sampling day when the river water is high. Boyd explained: ‘The purpose of the testing is to get snapshot of the health of the River Ure by measuring a series of elements. Sampling at multiple sites along the Ure and its tributaries will enable us to understand the chemical and biological profile of the river, and to help us gauge the relative importance of different pollution sources – under the same weather and river conditions.

‘The samples taken will be tested for nitrates, phosphates, faecal bacterial levels, suspended solids, pH and total organic carbon. Measurements will be taken at each sample point for water temperature, conductivity and turbidity. This snapshot will show the relative health of the river along with identifying areas of diffuse and point source pollution.’

There was a second sampling day, when the water levels were high, in October 2024. See Test Results

Above: Kilgram Bridge - believed to be of 12th-Century foundation, with a Roman river crossing beneath. Photo and caption by Pamela Knights

Stop Ure Pollution (SUP) was unanimously voted into existence at a meeting at Leyburn Methodist Church Hall on June 25 2024. Over 70 attended the meeting as they were so concerned about the pollution of the River Ure, including that caused by the discharge of raw sewage.

The chair of the interim committee of the ‘Health of the River Ure’ group, Prof Richard Loukota, said the aims of SUP were: to stop the discharges of raw sewage when storm conditions were not occurring; to upgrade water treatment facilities; and to identify pollution caused by the run-off from farms.

One man asked how they could bring about change when agencies such as Defra and the Environment Agency were so under-funded and under-manned. ‘You can collect as much data as you like but when you look at Defra they don’t have the resources because of the cutbacks.’ He also wondered what could be done if polluters weren’t breaking the law.

Richard replied that there were instances when polluters were breaking the law and Ofwat has the power to impose unlimited fines. ‘They need to be pushed to do so,’ he said.

Sheila Toper from Aysgarth commented: ‘We have got to start somewhere and the more voices raised the more successful we will be.’

When asked how soon data could be collected Charlotte Simons of the Yorkshire Dales River Trust (YDRT) explained how volunteer citizen scientists could assist with sampling the river water throughout its length and from that data hot spots could be identified.‘The data collected by volunteers will be more specific and there will be far more testing along the river.’

Along the Rivers Wharfe and Nidd volunteers had tested between 30 and 40 sites she said and added: ‘That gives you a far greater picture of where the pollution might be coming in.’

She explained the YDRT will now work with the SUP volunteers to identify testing sites, hold training days for volunteers and organise a date for the first sampling by the end of August.

Since the meeting about the health of the river on April 30, sponsored by the Association of Rural Communities, over 40 people have volunteered to help with water sampling.

Some at the meeting questioned the independence of the testing of the water samples as the cost of this would be met by Yorkshire Water. Charlotte confirmed that the laboratory is an independent accredited and has been used by YDRT for both testing of samples from the Wharfe and the Nidd.

Richard pointed out that testing water samples was very expensive and it will take time for the new group to build up funds. He said he had attended Save Our Swale meetings to learn from them about setting up such a group.

Both he and Charlotte emphasised that this needed to be a collaborative effort, working with not only Yorkshire Water and the Environment Agency but also the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and other river groups to be effective.

Below: Some of those who attended the open meeting organised by the Association of Rural Communities on April 30 2025 which led to the creation of Stop Ure Pollution. For a full report click here.

A Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) team paid a visit to Aysgarth Falls on the morning of Thursday June 20 2024 to find out about pollution in the River Ure. Below: from left: Ann McKelvey, Chloe Flood, Kirsty Davies, Katie Bone and Richard Loukota.

They were invited by Prof Richard Loukota, the interim chair of the group being formed to campaign against the pollution of the River Ure and its tributaries.

Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) embarked on an Election Road Tripin June 2024  travelling the length of the UK to galvanise communities to demand election candidates to end sewage pollution. It aimed to take the sewage debate to political, sewage and surfing hotspots.

It was invited by Save Our Swale (SOS) to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s constituency to hold one of its hustings at Richmond on Friday evening (June 21 2024). The CEO of Surfers Against Sewage, Giles Bristow, commented: ‘Local activists [in Swaledale] have been fighting to clean up their favourite beauty spot.’

In Wensleydale Aysgarth Falls is a key beauty spot but the Association of Rural Communities, which has sponsored the creation of the River Ure group, has pointed out that the Falls are affected by raw sewage discharges.

With its brightly painted open-top double-decker battle bus (see below) its team on Thursday (Ann McKelvey, Chloe Flood, Kirsty Davies and Katie Bone) were delighted to be able to visit the Upper Falls at Aysgarth where they were met by Richard and others keen to see an end to the pollution of the River Ure.

Richard said: ‘Surfers Against Sewage are very keen to have safe water for everyone and they have been incredibly supportive of Save Our Swale. They have kindly offered their support with everything you need to know when you are setting up a group. ‘

He added that many of the visitors at the Falls that day did not realise how much the River Ure was polluted, both from sewage and also agricultural run-off.

Having a River Ure group will, he added, help them to work collaboratively not only with SOS, the Nidd Action Group and the Ilkley Clean River Group but also nationally with others such as Surfers Against Sewage. ‘We are struggling together,’ he said. And that included those who had become ill swimming in rivers.

He hoped an online database for rivers could be developed similar to the Surfers Against Sewage one for our seas and oceans. ‘I think the pollution of the rivers is becoming something people are concerned about and it is going to affect their voting,’ Richard commented.