Sewage in our Rivers
Treated and untreated sewage is discharged into rivers across the UK and Ireland on a daily basis. This isn’t an isolated problem; it occurs up and down the country, affecting urban city centre rivers and pristine chalk streams alike. Our interactive Sewage Map will help you find out where this happens.
We want to help you find out where sewage is discharged into rivers, enabling you to take action, help us hold polluters to account, and make informed decisions about where you swim, paddle, catch and play.
Sewage (of both the raw and the treated kind) reaching our rivers can cause many problems. Raw sewage can contain disgusting solid items such as wet wipes and organic waste matter (poo), and even after treatment, can still contain chemicals and pharmaceutical products, harmful bacteria like e.coli and enterococci, and excess nutrients that can cause toxic algal blooms.
Life in and around our waterways can be dangerously impacted by each of these.
Our free and interactive Sewage Map shows where the sewerage network discharges and overflows into rivers, summarises the available annual total discharge information since 2019, and contains near real-time alerts for sewage spills that are happening across England and Scotland, right now.
Be warned: you might not like what you discover.
Explore the Sewage Map đź’©
Data at your fingertips. Use our interactive Sewage Map to discover where sewage is reaching waterways, how the situation has changed year on year, and whether sewage is being discharged right this minute.
What do we want?
From the government:
Urgency and ambition! We want the government to make the most of this unique opportunity, in response to the Independent Water Commission, to transform the water system, so that it serves the needs of customers and protects the environment.
The government must keep the pressure on water companies to tackle sewage pollution urgently, and must give regulators the clear direction and funding they need to do their jobs properly.
From water companies:
Turn plans and promises into action. With new targets and plans in place, and ever-improving transparency, water companies now need to show that they are serious about tackling the issue by delivering much-needed upgrades and reporting better performance on sewage pollution incidents.
We want to see far greater use of catchment and nature-based solutions where appropriate, as these can provide a vast array of benefits to nature and communities as well as reducing sewage pollution.
What are we doing?
Since launching the Sewage Map 2019, The Rivers Trust has made it easier for everyone to learn about sewage in rivers in England and Wales.
We’ve campaigned hard for water companies to be transparent and share data on their treated and untreated sewage overflows, so that we can truly understand the scale of the issue, identify and hold polluters to account, and help us all make more informed decisions about how we interact with our rivers.
In 2020, we helped Surfers Against Sewage deliver 44,691 signatures to Parliament — all calling for an end to sewage pollution.
Read our position statements to learn more about what we believe in and what we are doing about it.
How can you help? 
- It's a gamble where waste from our toilets and sinks go. As our data shows, we can't assume sewage is being filtered or treated before entering a river. Don't risk it - remember only flush paper, pee and poo down the loo.
- Sign up for our monthly supporter newsletter to be the first to hear about opportunities to support our sewage campaigns
- Write to your elected political representative and demand better for rivers
- Report any signs of sewage to the Authorities
- Report any signs of other environmental incidents to the Authorities
- Learn more by listening to the sewage episode of Rambling About Rivers Podcast
- Volunteer at your local Rivers Trust
- Take part in our Big River Watch
- Share this information far and wide
Sadly sewage is one piece of the pollution puzzle, learn more about pollution and read the State of Our Rivers report.
