It has been announced that England will have 27 new monitored bathing sites, most of them on rivers, benefiting paddlers and swimmers.
It means the areas will have summer pollution testing conducted by the Environment Agency.
The results will be publicly displayed on the Environment Agency’s Swimfo website and given an annual rating of either excellent, good, sufficient, poor depending on bacterial counts for e-coli and enterococci.
The information will help recreational paddlers make informed decisions on where and when to paddle.
It will also keep the pressure on water companies to improve and encourage better farming practices.
The news follows water companies releasing their sewage discharge maps.
Chantelle Grundy, Access and Environment Lead, said:
“We welcome the news of the successful designation of all 27 new bathing water designations following much hard work from local communities.
“Designation requires water companies to prioritise improving the water quality at these locations to reduce the harm caused to public health, driving change.
“While that change may not happen overnight, designation is a helpful tool to ensure the public can make informed choices about how they enjoy these blue spaces.”
Paddle UK is advocating for a change in the bathing waters regulations and guidance to enable more applications to be accepted and be more reflective of modern use of our water ways.
Areas of concern have been highlighted with both the Office of Environmental Protection and Defra.
Water quality – Don’t get sick doing what you love >>
The new locations are:
Church Cliff Beach, Lyme Regis, Dorset
Coastguards Beach, River Erme, Devon
Coniston Boating Centre, Coniston Water, Cumbria
Coniston Brown Howe, Coniston Water, Cumbria
Derwent Water, Cumbria
Goring Beach, Worthing, West Sussex
Littlehaven Beach, Tyne and Wear
Manningtree Beach, Essex
Monk Coniston, Coniston Water, Cumbria
River Avon at Fordingbridge, Hampshire
River Cam at Sheep's Green, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
River Dart Estuary at Dittisham, Devon
River Dart Estuary at Steamer Quay, Totnes, Devon
River Dart Estuary at Stoke Gabriel, Devon
River Dart Estuary at Warfleet, Dartmouth, Devon
River Frome at Farleigh Hungerford, Somerset
River Nidd at the Lido Leisure Park in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire
River Ribble at Edisford Bridge, Lancashire
River Severn at Ironbridge, Shropshire
River Severn at Shrewsbury, Shropshire
River Stour at Sudbury, Suffolk
River Teme at Ludlow, Shropshire
River Tone in French Weir Park, Taunton, Somerset
River Wharfe at Wetherby, West Yorkshire
Rottingdean Beach, East Sussex
Wallingford Beach, River Thames, Berkshire
Worthing Beach House, Worthing, West Sussex