Bathing spot fails to meet water quality standard

If the River Cam is rated poor at Sheep's Green, a sign advising against bathing will be put up

Swimmers could be warned against bathing in a river which has consistently scored poorly for its water quality.

The River Cam in Sheep's Green, Cambridgeshire, was one of 27 sites to be awarded bathing status designation in May, but it has repeatedly failed to meet the minimum standard for water quality.

If its water does not meet the minimum standard, work to improve it will begin.

Cam Valley Forum said a poor rating would not be surprising, and it hoped it would trigger action to discover the source of the problem.

Cam Valley Forum's Michael Goodhart, Jean Perraton and Anne Miller

The forum's Anne Miller said wetter weather could have a negative impact on quality as it could cause sewage to enter the water.

"It's absolutely no surprise. We applied [for bathing status] because we knew it was very likely to get an official poor rating... but that will speed up improvements and we want to know who the culprits are and get it fixed," she said.

"I'm pleased to see from the latest Environment Agency water quality test results, that, now that it's stopped raining so much, the water quality is at last improving.

"It’s still not good, but not as poor as it was.”

Anne Miller advised people wanting to swim to wait a day or two after heavy rain

Inland bathing waters are tested by the Environment Agency on their concentration of E.coli and intestinal enterococci between May and September. Anything recording more than 1,000 is rated as "poor".

On 5 August, the River Cam at Sheep's Green scored at 1,100 for E.coli.

In July, its results ranged between 6,400 and 1,800; in June, between 3,600 and 1,200; and in May, when testing began, it scored 5,900.

Concerns that an Anglian Water sewage works could have played a part in the river's pollution have previously been raised.

A spokesperson for the water company said a source apportionment study would be carried out in 2025 to determine what was contributing to the poor quality, and the company had worked with river and wild swimming groups on quality testing.

"As part of our Get River Positive programme we’ve pledged to make sure our operations will not be the reason for poor river health, and bathing waters are a crucial part of our second commitment through Get River Positive, to create more opportunities for everyone to enjoy our region’s rivers," the spokesperson said.